


Empire of Lies

by Bibliosmia13



Series: Empire [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Amnesia, Brotherly Love, Crying, Gen, Handcuffs, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Punching, Recovered Memories, brief mention of a knife, cursing, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 29,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27072781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibliosmia13/pseuds/Bibliosmia13
Summary: Sequel to Truth is TreasonEight months after the events of Truth is Treason, our main vampires come across Virgil once again. But, something is...different. Logan, Roman, and Patton must figure out what has happened since the last time they saw him before their past comes back to haunt them.
Relationships: Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders
Series: Empire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975870
Comments: 176
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1 (Roman)

Roman snarled at the human cornering him and his friends. He needed an idea, and quickly. Usually, that was Logan's area of expertise, but the idiotic genius had angered a trained vampire hunter while he was weak, and now his bleeding head wound was being fawned over by the third member of their little group, Patton, who could never stand to see anyone in pain.

While normally Roman would have just rushed the hunter and incapacitated him, therein lay the problem, and the reason they were all out in the city in the first place. While vampires can last much longer than humans can without nourishment, almost two months of sacrificing a majority of the already steadily declining amount of blood the three had access to for Patton, the youngest, had taken its toll. Some unknown in the forest was scaring the wildlife, making animal blood much harder to get ahold of. So, in short, both Roman and Logan were practically starving, and Patton wasn't far behind. They had decided that, even with the risks, it would be safer to drain a bit of blood from locals now than to completely lose control later and actually hurt someone.

Roman edged towards the emptying street slowly, hoping to draw the hunter's attention away from his preoccupied friends and onto him. Even if it wasn't the most thought out plan, it would at least give Patton a chance to move Logan someplace safer, preferably the abandoned cabin in the forest that they were calling home at the moment.

For some reason, luck was actually on Roman's side at the moment. He somehow managed to make a half-circle around the hunter without provoking him or falling over from the dizzy spell that overtook him about halfway to where he was now, the edge of the alley.

Hoping luck was still on his side, Roman bolted.

Pounding boots, or maybe that was his head, followed him further and further away from Logan and Patton. He should probably be paying attention to where he was going, but it didn't seem to be the most important concern at the moment. Instead, his vampiric hearing caught a sound in the next alley, and he darted in, knowing full well that if he attempted to run much farther, he would surely collapse.

He darted next to the human that he had been reasonably certain he would find within the alley just before the hunter turned in as well.

Step one of his half-baked, somewhat-made-up-on-the-spot plan complete: Find a bargaining chip. Most hunters at least were smart enough to leave civilians out of the crossfire.

In this part of town, Roman recalled, there were all kinds of drunks and homeless taking refuge in the alleyways, away from prying eyes. Roman caught the scent of alcohol, though it may have been from the bar about two blocks to the north, as his senses were going rather haywire at the moment. He hoped that the alcohol was on the man, because, if so, he probably wouldn't remember anything of this in the morning.

On to step two: Threaten him. Roman pulled the man up against him and pinned the man's arms to his side with one arm, while the other gripped his captive's upper arm, ensuring easy movement of his human shield if necessary.

Roman didn't have to say anything aloud. He could hear his shield whimper, and the hunter immediately looked less confident. But that was suddenly unimportant because now Roman could hear the blood pumping through the man's veins. He could feel his heartbeat through the thick fabric of an oversized hoodie and could smell the sweet, warm red liquid running through his body. Roman felt his head dip downwards, towards his prey's...prey? Where had that come from? Not that captive or shield was all that much better. Roman shook his thoughts loose as he felt his head dip closer toward the man's neck. The fabric would be a nuisance, but it could be dealt with.

Roman was thrown once again from his train of thought as he felt movement under his arms. The man had tensed and his breathing had all but stopped. Movement at the other end of the alley normally would have concerned Roman, but it didn't really feel bothersome, because his pr-this man was here and Roman hadn't eaten in too long and-

Roman felt his head slam against a brick wall, and he registered that the warmth of a living body had left his arms, but wasn't gone entirely. It radiated from the arm pushing uncomfortably against his neck, though soon that disappeared as well and Roman felt himself sinking down the wall. Then, the pumping of blood sounded in Roman's ears again as a pale wrist shoved itself under his nose. It smelled so good, too good, and Roman sunk his fangs into the soft flesh, drawing blood out and down his throat.

Once Roman was able to think properly again, he looked down to find that the man had fallen unconscious against him at some point during his feeding. He quickly retracted his fangs from the wrist, wincing at how limply the arm fell from his grasp.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Roman pleaded as he moved to his knees and gently shook the body. "Please, I beg of you sir, don't be dead."

He rolled the body onto its back and gently laid his head against the man's chest, sighing in relief when he could hear a heartbeat, albeit a bit slower than it should have been.

Roman considered how to proceed. He couldn't help but be reminded of the last time he and the others had taken someone into their home.  _ But, what were the odds of something like that happening again? _

Very high, apparently.

Roman had pulled down the man's hood, only to be greeted by a very familiar face. While he now had dyed purple hair and the bags under his eyes seemed to have only deepened, Roman was certain that the person lying in front of him was Virgil.

That made his decision. He hoisted up the hoodie-clad figure, surprised at how light he was. The last time Roman had picked him up, Virgil certainly hadn't been heavy, but now, Roman probably could have lifted him even before he'd fed. He set off towards the alleyway he had left his friends in, making sure they had left already.

Roman made a mental note to ask Virgil what had happened to the hunter, along with a multitude of other questions he had already formed.

When he arrived in the alleyway, there was no trace of either Logan or Patton, which Roman was simultaneously terrified out of his mind and extremely grateful for. Either they had gotten away safely and were relaxing right now in their temporary home, or the hunter had left when he realized that Virgil had things under control and had caught his friends. But, Roman couldn't focus on the second one; he could only hope for the best. Before he over thought anything else and psyched himself out, he began the trek back home.

  
  



	2. Chapter 1 (Virgil)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter from Virgil's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've found that I like writing from Virgil's perspective more than the other characters, but It doesn't combine with my idea from this story completely, so I will probably go back and forth between Roman and Virgil's perspective every other chapter.

It was a dark night, with the moon nearly new and the sun settling below the horizon quickly, but Virgil didn’t mind the setting. If anything, he embraced the darkness, the time of his best work. 

“They’re in there, Vee. I’ma head in. You good to wait in the alley?”

Virgil nodded in affirmation, the motion just barely visible in the light from the streetlamp down the street, and trotted around the building to the even less lit alleyway. He found a seat on a step protruding from the uniform brick wall. The rough bricks at his back were warm, a welcome change from the chill sweeping through the air. 

Virgil pulled his hood down over his eyes and laid his head back against the warm wall, letting his thoughts twist and swirl. It had been a long time since he’d had the chance to just think, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. If he didn’t pay attention, oftentimes his thoughts would trail to places he didn’t want them. 

But, before his thoughts could trail too far down strange rabbit holes, Virgil caught movement at the entrance to the alleyway. With inhuman, though slightly unsteady speed, a figure arrived next to him.

Virgil squinted up at the person looming over him, surprised when a tinge of recognition swept through him. It was dark, so dark he could barely make out the shape and size of the person, but he somehow knew that he had met this person before. 

Before Virgil could truly process what was going on, he found himself on his feet, the man’s arms keeping him still. Despite the fact that he was sure he recognized this person, Virgil couldn’t help the surge of fear that raced through him. Perhaps it wasn’t a good thing he had met this person before. He whimpered, trying to hold together the energy trying to escape him; Virgil knew it would only make his current situation worse. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the breath so close he could almost feel it through his hood.

Just when Virgil had gotten his powers under control, a second man at the end of the alley stepped forward, setting Virgil once again on edge. He tensed, trying to manipulate the shadows in the alley to hide him and the man holding on to him. It must have worked, because the unwanted visitor left the alleyway in something of a daze.

Now, Virgil had to deal with the threat behind him. Despite the man’s firm grip on Virgil, he was more than prepared to free himself. He slipped downwards in a turn, throwing the man’s balance off. 

The several seconds it took the man to right himself was plenty of time for Virgil to regain his own bearings and pin the man to the wall. Virgil winced guiltily at the sound the man’s head made as it hit the bricks. He hadn't meant to be that rough; the man hadn’t put up the expected fight that most would have. When Virgil let go of the man’s collar, he slid down the wall, obviously dazed.

Now that Virgil was close enough, he could make out several more details, though still not enough to figure out who this man was. One thing he did notice, though, were the sparkling white fangs peeking from behind the man’s lips. Virgil recalled how he had stumbled into the alley. He realized that the reason the man had been so close was probably due to the smell of Virgil’s blood. While Virgil didn’t have perfect knowledge of all things supernatural, he could still recognize the signs. 

This vampire was probably starving, Virgil realized. And, he knew from experience that a starving vampire rarely acted as they did normally, nor did any other creature. So, Virgil threw out his reasoning and pulled up his sleeve. He hissed as the sharp fangs penetrated his skin, but aside from the initial bit of pain, it didn’t hurt as badly as Virgil would have suspected.

He shifted to his knees, careful not to tug on his wrist at all. 

It had been the right move. Despite their previous interaction, Virgil had a strong feeling that the man had good intentions. Now he just hoped that the man remembered them before he drained Virgil dry. 

Virgil didn’t know why he had been so spontaneous about this. It was probably a horrible idea, now that he thought about it. He was basing his actions on a feeling of all things. Even if he knew exactly who was in front of him, he should have come up with a back-up plan.

But now it was too late. If he pulled his wrist away now, it would cause him more harm than good. 

Virgil tried to suppress the torrent of negative thoughts overwhelming him, but it was either that or think about the dizziness taking over him, making the world seem like a tilt-a-whirl. 

Or the shallowness of his breathing. 

Or the dark spots dancing at the edges of his vision.

Or nothing. Nothing was good. 

Virgil felt himself fall to the side, but there wasn’t an impact like he would have expected. 

It was...soft. 

It was nice. 

It was... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And once again I knock the poor thing unconscious. Sorry, Virgil!


	3. Chapter 2 (Roman)

Roman listened intently for any sounds coming from within the cabin before kicking out at the base of the door repeatedly, his current version of knocking. Thankfully, a rush of footsteps approached the door from the other side. Within seconds, the worried face of Patton Hart was peeking from the doorway.

"Roman! Oh my goodness, you're okay! We were so scared, kiddo. What- who's this?" Patton abruptly stopped, gesturing to the shifting bundle in Roman's arms. 

Roman turned Virgil so that Patton could see his face. The youngest vampire froze for a moment before snapping back into action.

"Bring him in. Lay him on the couch. What does he need? Should I get first aid supplies? Is he hurt? Let me get Logan. Wh-"

"Padre, breathe."

Patton forced out a laugh. "Sorry, kiddo. He's alright?"

Virgil let out a groan in response, curling back into Roman's chest and eliciting a chuckle from the two vampires. Roman then gave a brief summary of the night after they had been split up.

"I'll tell Lolo and then get started on some soup," Patton said, before hurrying off.

Roman walked through the door, around the dividing wall to the next room, and straight over to the couch draped in an old blanket. He laid Virgil down, smiling slightly when he wouldn't open the hand he had fisted in Roman's shirt. Roman knelt by the couch, gently prying Virgil's fingers from the fabric. He had just finished when Logan made his way down the stairs. He rose to greet the older man, assure that he had recovered from his scrap with the hunter, and inform him of what had happened.

When they turned back to the couch, they were greeted by two wide brown eyes staring silently back at them.

_ Wait, brown eyes?  _ Roman could have sworn that Virgil's eyes had been hazel. He was suddenly filled with worry; what if it wasn't Virgil and this person just looked similar to him? From what Logan had said, Virgil should hate them. He would never have helped a vampire under Deceit's influence. But, Patton had immediately recognized him as well. 

The only thing left to do was ask.

"Virgil?"

The man's eyes widened in surprise. He sat up straighter, studying the two in front of him.

"You know me?"

Roman and Logan exchanged a look.

Roman could tell that Logan was processing all of the possibilities as to what had led to their current situation. If Virgil had some form of memory loss, it could explain why he hadn't killed Roman when he'd had the chance, though why he would offer his blood still made no sense. Logan had suggested that it was some sort of ruse, and that Virgil had been sent by the Empire to hurt or capture them, though Logan himself had his doubts towards the theory.

"You have amnesia," Logan said, and Roman couldn't tell if it was meant to be a question or a statement.

Virgil pulled his hoodie tighter around him unconsciously.

"I got in an accident about six months ago. But, we do know each other, don't we?" 

Once again Roman was unsure if it was a question or a statement.

"Yes. We have met."

"Are...are we friends?"

There was silence for a moment.

"I shouldn't be here, should I?" Virgil muttered a curse under his breath. He stood abruptly. "I've got to go. I-"

"Wait, kiddo, I made you some soup! I'm Patton," Patton announced as he entered the living room. "We're not going to hurt, you kiddo. You're safe here. I mean, you saved Roman's life!"

"Why should I trust you? You've just admitted that we weren't friends, and you're immortal. A life debt can only last so long."

Patton put up a hand, silencing Roman and Logan's protests.

"Kiddo, nobody said we weren't friends. We just...we didn't know each other for very long. I'd like to consider us friends, but I don't know if you would, and if you've got amnesia, none of us want to mislead you, even accidentally. Does that make sense?"

Virgil nodded slowly, though his eyes were still full of distrust.

"We'd be happy to answer any questions you may have, but I'd like you to eat first. Your iron's pretty low right now, and I don't want you to make yourself sick, alright, kiddo?"

Virgil pulled his hoodie even tighter around himself uncomfortably, making Roman wince. For all he knew, he had fabricated the memory of what had happened in the alleyway to cope with what had really taken place. Had he attacked Virgil? What if he was traumatizing Virgil just by being in the room? Roman made to leave, but was once again shocked by the man before them.

"I'm sorry, Roman was it? I probably should have asked or...something before, you know..." Virgil ducked back into his hoodie, but this time, Roman could see the red creeping up Virgil's cheeks.

"You're apologizing for saving my life?"

"People are weird sometimes," was his only answer, if you could even count that as an answer. "You're okay now though, right?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you, Virgil."

"No problem. Can we talk about something else now?"

"No, we aren't going to talk about anything else until you eat your soup," Patton said authoritatively, though the ends of his lips twitched upwards.

Virgil acquiesced, slowly emptying the bowl.

"Thank you, Patton. You like to cook?"

"Definitely. Even though I don't all that often..."

"Well, thanks again. It was very good."

"Yay!" Patton cheered. "Anytime. Now, I'll be right back, okay? And, just for reference, since I know they are a little confused right now and haven't introduced themselves yet, that's Logan and Roman. Just so you know." With that, Patton picked up Virgil's empty bowl and cup and marched off into the kitchen. "And you guys can talk while I'm gone!" Patton's voice reverberated through the house after an uneasy moment of silence.

"Well...hi," Virgil said with an uncomfortable half-smile.

"Hello."

"Salutations."

"Salutations?"

Roman let out a short laugh at Virgil's expression. He remembered himself thinking quite the same thing when he had first met Logan and been subjected to his overly-elaborate dialogue.

"You'll get used to him eventually...hopefully. I still don't think I am, and we've known each other twelve years."

"My apologies for not finding it an easy task to learn an entirely new way of speech I had previously been isolated from."

"It's been twelve years, Logan!"

"Everything I have attempted has worked in the opposite way of what I had originally intended."

"He read through an entire dictionary, and I'm fairly certain it made things worse," Roman explained with a fond smile.

"Well, when did you learn English, Logan?" Virgil asked, uncurling from his hoodie a bit.

"I spoke my first words 669 and a half years ago."

"Do you have a day for that?" Roman teased.

"Oh, shut up. That's actually really impressive, Logan. That's like, Middle English, right?"

Virgil shrunk back into his hoodie again, and Roman immediately felt bad. They were trying to get him to come  _ out _ of his shell.

"I found this book..." was Virgil's muttered excuse.

"Oh, no. Not another nerd!"

"I said shut up!"

Roman chuckled at the hiss that slipped from Virgil's lips. The human's cheeks had flushed a deep crimson, and his glare was a lot less intimidating because of it.

"We were stuck in some bookstore, and Rem-" Virgil stopped abruptly, wincing at the information he had almost revealed, at least that was Roman's guess.

_Rem?_ _Wasn't that what Virgil had called Remus?_ That meant that Logan's theory might have some backing, and that it was some sort of ruse. He didn't want to believe it, he barely could, but if there was even a chance that Remus or Deceit were near, Roman wasn't going to give them the chance to hurt his new family again. 

"Whom?" Logan questioned, face as emotionless as ever, though Roman knew that he had made the same connection.

"...a friend," Virgil muttered, eyes flickering across the room. 

_ A lie. _

"Ah, from before or after your incident?"

"Both. I've pretty much known him all my life. I...should probably get back to him soon. But, is there any way I could ask a couple questions before I go? If you want me to leave, I'm happy to, but..."

"Of course, kiddo. You're welcome to stay for however long you want to. We trust you, Virgil," Patton said reentering the room, daring Logan or Roman to contradict him. 

Roman both cursed and was exceedingly grateful for Patton's timing.

"First question, have you been listening this entire time?"

"Maybe...but all three of you are far too suspicious and unfriendly for your own good."

"Patton!"

"Fine, Roman. Admit that you haven't questioned Virgil's reason for being here or the fact that he has amnesia, and I'll take it back."

Not for the first time since they had met, Roman decided that Patton was going to be the death of all of them. Between his desire to befriend humans, his innocence, his naiveté, and his troublemaking streak, it was probably a danger to associate with him, but neither Roman nor Logan could bring themselves to leave.

"You think I'm lying?" Virgil bit out, fury dancing in his eyes and ready to be let out.

"Would it truly be so out of character?" 

"So, what? I was some sort of habitual liar when I knew you?"

"We didn't exactly meet in the most honest situation. We didn't even know who you were a majority of the time we knew each other."

"And who was I?" 

A knock echoed through the house, making everyone fall quiet.

"Expecting someone?" Virgil said in a low, tense voice, seemingly already knowing the answer. 

_ No. Not at all. _ No one was even supposed to know that the cabin was inhabited at the moment.

"Stay with me, Virgil. I have a couple more questions for you. Ro and Lo will take care of that and they'll be right back."

Roman followed Logan out of the room, the sound of Patton making small talk at their backs.

  
  



	4. Chapter 2 (Virgil)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's POV of the previous chapter.

It was cold, Virgil decided, and he didn’t like it. 

He turned away from the cold air, burrowing back into the semi-warmth against his other side. He snaked his fingers through a soft fabric, bringing warmth back to them, too. And then the warmth was pulling away, leaving his fingers unsheltered and the rest of him even colder than he was before. Virgil shifted, just barely catching himself before he fell off of...a couch? Where was he? It certainly wasn’t home. It lacked the almost overwhelming smell of coffee that always hung in his and Rem’s apartment, and it was much bigger. 

Virgil sat up, slightly disorienting himself, finally focusing on the room around him, and, more importantly, the two men in front of him. Again he got that maddening sense of almost-recognition, but even the light did little to reveal either man’s identity to Virgil. After a moment, the two turned back to him, seeming almost surprised to find him staring back at them.

"Virgil?"

He knew it. He knew that he’d known them, but it was still somewhat shocking to be recognized by people whose identities he still couldn’t decipher. Now he just needed to pinpoint where he knew them from.

"You know me?"

The two men looked to each other, obviously not expecting that.

"You have amnesia," the taller man said, adjusting his glasses.

They knew. They knew. But that was impossible. The only one who knew what had happened was...Virgil forced himself to take a deep breath. He hadn’t remembered these people who obviously knew him. Amnesia was a perfectly logical assumption.

"I got in an accident about six months ago.” Virgil admitted. “But, we do know each other, don't we?" 

The taller one once again spoke, confirming his inquiry.

"Are…” Virgil paused. He needed to know for sure whether his assumptions were correct. “Are we friends?"

In the short silence that followed, Virgil was able to come up with twenty-three ways in which these people could kill him and no one would ever know. He had always been the one to warn Rem of trusting strangers; how ironic that he should be the one to die from it.

"I shouldn't be here, should I?" Virgil muttered, cursing his own stupidity. He got to his feet, fighting back a wave of dizziness that threatened to send him to the ground. "I've got to go. I-"

"Wait, kiddo, I made you some soup! I'm Patton. We're not going to hurt, you kiddo. You're safe here. I mean, you saved Roman's life!"

Virgil winced at the arrival of yet another half-known possible enemy.

"Why should I trust you? You've just admitted that we weren't friends, and you're immortal. A life debt can only last so long.”

The man called Patton started justifying his friends’ silence, claiming that they hadn’t wanted to mislead him, and that their actions weren’t totally self-serving. Virgil nodded when the man asked if what he said had made sense, even though it was more obligatory than actual understanding.

"We'd be happy to answer any questions you may have, but I'd like you to eat first. Your iron's pretty low right now, and I don't want you to make yourself sick, alright, kiddo?"

Virgil really needed to make up his mind as to whose side he thought these people were on. He tugged at his hoodie nervously. He wasn’t dead, even by accident. He had passed out from blood loss, and this...Roman. Roman hadn’t left him to die. He had brought him to his home, had Patton make soup for him to replenish what he had lost from the feeding.

The feeding. Virgil didn’t really know how that normally worked, but he really hoped he hadn’t messed something up.

"I'm sorry, Roman was it? I probably should have asked or...something before, you know..." 

Virgil gestured to his arm before taking refuge behind his hood. He tried to suppress the blush that he knew would be overtaking his face. Why couldn’t he just have a normal conversation and not talk about  _ that _ .  _ That _ was awkward.  _ That  _ was probably not something Roman, or any of them wanted to talk about anyway.

"You're apologizing for saving my life?"

Well...Virgil hadn’t really thought about it like that. Now he really didn’t know how to have a normal conversation about something like this. 

"People are weird sometimes. You're okay now though, right?"

Roman assured him that he was, in fact, quite alright. He didn’t look the slightest bit angry, relieving Virgil immensely. He even thanked him!

"No problem. Can we talk about something else now?”

"No, we aren't going to talk about anything else until you eat your soup," Patton commanded, but Virgil couldn’t find it in himself to be too worried. He complied, taking the soup and glass of water from Patton and taking slow, steady bites. The soup’s ingredients had been picked perfectly, replenishing his drained stores of iron and vitamins.

"Thank you, Patton,” Virgil said when he’d finished. “You like to cook?"

Patton  _ did _ like to cook. Virgil was suddenly certain of that fact. Again, it was a logical conclusion, but Virgil felt that he had learned that fact before he had ever laid foot in this cottage.

"Well, thanks again. It was very good."

Virgil smiled at the excited reaction he received. He nodded when Patton properly introduced the other two before he left with Virgil’s dishes.

"And you guys can talk while I'm gone!" Patton called from wherever he was, breaking the silence that had overtaken the room the second he had left.

"Well...hi," Virgil said. 

He had always hated having to start conversations; he never knew what exactly to talk about, and he would rather wait for Patton’s presence to bring up the one thing he desperately wanted to speak of, his past.

"Hello," Roman smiled.

"Salutations."

"Salutations?"

Virgil arched an eyebrow at Logan, ignoring the laughter from Roman that was probably at his expense.

"You'll get used to him eventually...hopefully. I still don't think I am, and we've known each other twelve years,” Roman admitted .

"My apologies for not finding it an easy task to learn an entirely new way of speech I had previously been isolated from," Logan bit back, though his expression remained neutral.

The two bickered goodnaturedly until Virgil posed a question.

"Well, when did you learn English, Logan?" 

"I spoke my first words 669 and a half years ago."

Roman didn’t miss the chance to poke fun back at his friend.

"Oh, shut up. That's actually really impressive, Logan. That's like, Middle English, right?"

Virgil shrunk back into his hoodie again at the two pairs of eyes staring at him in surprise.

"I found this book..." Virgil tried to justify himself.

"Oh, no. Not another nerd!"

"I said shut up!" Virgil hissed at Roman. He glared, trying to ignore the burning in his cheeks.

"We were stuck in some bookstore, and Rem-" Virgil stopped. 

He’d almost told these people information that few people knew. Even as a young child, he had kept his seperate social rings, just that, separate. His family hadn’t even known the few friends he had managed to make, and the only reason those friends met was if factors other than Virgil had made them.

"Whom?" Logan asked.

"...a friend," Virgil said quietly, eyes nervously scanning anywhere but the vampires in front of him.

"Ah, from before or after your incident?"

"Both. I've pretty much known him all my life. I…should probably get back to him soon. But, is there any way I could ask a couple questions before I go? If you want me to leave, I'm happy to, but..."

"Of course, kiddo. You're welcome to stay for however long you want to. We trust you, Virgil," Patton said, reappearing at the opportune moment. 

Patton smiled, but his cold eyes flickered between the three of them. Virgil found himself immediately wondering if he had done wrong.

"First question, have you been listening this entire time?" Virgil ventured.

"Maybe...but all three of you are far too suspicious and unfriendly for your own good."

Roman interjected, but he was quickly shut down.

"Fine, Roman. Admit that you haven't questioned Virgil's reason for being here or the fact that he has amnesia, and I'll take it back."

Virgil bit his lip harshly, attempting to restrain his anger. They didn’t have to let him stay. They didn’t have to bring him here in the first place, though suddenly it was  _ his  _ character that they were questioning, for what, being here? Something that was their doing in the first place. And what reason would he even have for lying about amnesia?!

"You think I'm lying?" Virgil grit out.

"Would it truly be so out of character?" Roman had the gall to question.

"So, what? I was some sort of habitual liar when I knew you?" Virgil practically hissed.

"We didn't exactly meet in the most honest situation. We didn't even know who you were a majority of the time we knew each other."

"And who was I?" 

The question he had been desperate to ask since he had first met Roman in the alleyway was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Expecting someone?" Virgil asked, already practically certain that the answer was no. They all had fallen far too silent for the interruption to be planned.

Patton attempted to reassure Virgil with a story about molasses cookies and baby birds after Roman and Logan went off to answer the door, but it did little to ease his worry.

  
  



	5. Chapter 3 (Roman)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to figure out Rem...

Logan and Roman studied the man standing on the front porch. He wore golden rimmed sunglasses, even though the sun had set fully about half an hour ago. He wore a black leather jacket pulled over a white tee shirt and worn black jeans, and seemed the kind of person to have little regard for rules.

"Hey, gurl, sorry 'bout the intrusion," the unwelcome visitor said as he pushed past the two, headed down the hall.

"Excuse me, who exactly do you think you are?"

"Listen, we can chat in a minute, but first I'ma go find the kid you stole."

"The kid we...what?" Roman grabbed at the stranger's arm, pulling him away from the hallway that led to Virgil and Patton. "What are you talking about? And who are you?"

"You know exactly what I'm talkin' 'bout, and if you don't know who I am, that's your own fault. Now, where is he?"

"This way," Logan said, taking the stranger's other arm and leading him down the hallway and into the living room, pulling a surprised Roman along as well.

Now, Roman trusted Logan with his life, but he didn't agree that the best course of action was to give a stranger access to either Patton or Virgil. Nonetheless, he let Logan pull the newcomer into the sitting room.

"Virgil, do you know this man?"

Virgil stared in surprise, before regaining his composure with a smirk.

"What would you do if I said I didn't?"

"Virgil Xavier Maro," the newcomer all but growled out. "You are on very thin ice."

"Jeremy David Maro, aren't I always?" 

"You two are related?" Patton gasped.

Virgil frowned.

"Yeah, we're brothers. I didn't tell you that?"

"You don't remember if you told them somethin' like that? What exactly have you been doing, gurl?”

"Not tonight, Remy. I knew them from before..."

Roman saw the change immediately; the way the newcomer tensed, eyes suddenly studying every square inch of the room, searching for...Roman didn't know. 

"You knew them from before? How'd you know that?"

"They recognized me, and I...well I think I recognize them. It's hazy, but-"

"But nothing. Doesn't matter, Vee. We're going home."

"What, why? This is the first lead I've had!”

"Yeah, and you can talk to 'em later, but right now it's late, and-"

"Nice try. They're nocturnal and I've got insomnia. The only one planning on going to bed anytime soon is you, Rem, if that. So what's really up?”

So this man was "Rem." If he wasn't currently trying to force Virgil away from them, Roman would be absolutely relieved.

"Vee..."

"Huh-uh. You can't judge them. You don't even know their names!"

"Did you?"

"Yes! That's Roman and Logan and Patton," Virgil said, gesturing to each in turn. "And they're safe," Virgil insisted, eyes blazing.

"No, they're not."

"Remy! I think I would know better than you."

"Yeah? Well I don't, babe. 'Cause you don't remember nothin'. They could have done anything, and you wouldn't have the slightest idea."

"Excuse me, Virgil? Would you appreciate it if we were to leave for a period of time? I do not wish to make you or your brother uncomfortable," Logan cut in.

Virgil raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Oh, yes, Remy. They're so inconsiderate and dangerous. I wonder why I didn't see it sooner."

Roman couldn’t help feel bad for Logan, despite his earlier teasing; he had been attempting to put their guests at ease, but Virgil's sarcasm had gone right over his head, as usual.

"Can't we talk at home, kid?"

"I'm not a kid Remy; I can make my own decisions. And right now, if they'll have me, I'm choosing to stay right here. You can go home, Rem. I'll be back eventually."

"No. Never, not in a million years no. Vee, it's time for bed."

Virgil's eyes widened and he started backing away from the man, confusing Roman until Jeremy's hands lit up with a glowing, golden light. He pointed his hands towards Virgil, and a ball of golden dust-like particles shot forward, striking Virgil. Seconds later, the boy was falling forward into Jeremy's open arms. He picked Virgil up bridal style before turning angrily back towards Roman, Logan, and Patton.

"We're leavin' now. And I'ma warn you once, don't be tryin' anything, m'kay?"

The man strode towards the door to the hallway.

"Wait! What did you do to him? Is he going to be okay?" Patton cried out.

"He'll be better with me than he would be with you."

"I'm afraid I do not agree with that statement." Logan stepped forward, now positioned in between the brothers and the door. "My first reason is perhaps the weakest, yet I still believe it has some weight. Virgil was unable to pinpoint any specifics of his life before the Empire."

"That's not my-"

"Please do not interrupt. I have already admitted that this particular point contained the most flaws. However, he, in at least one instance, called one of his partners 'Rem.' If I understand your brother's thought process in the slightest, and I do, I know for a fact that you have had no contact with him for approximately eleven years, or else calling someone else such an emotionally charged nickname would have resulted in a recommence in his memory."

"You think I haven't tried? You don't know me, or him, so don't act like you do."

"You are correct in at least one aspect. I am unfamiliar with you and your habits, which is another one of the aforementioned flaws. However, I have had the chance to assess some of your habits, some of which concern me. You abuse your powers with him. This ties in with my second point. I cannot say that you two have the healthiest of relationships. You attempted to control his whereabouts even though he had expressed desire to remain where he was."

"You think...hell no! Move."

"I am not finished. While I have no proof, I also have reason to suspect that you were the one to inform Virgil or his supposed accident and that you were untruthful."

"Oh, yeah. 'Cause I'm supposed to tell him that he's some murderer and racist and everything he hates, and that his so-called friends are no better!"

Roman growled, but Patton cut him off by wrapping his arms around Roman in a half hug and leaning into his side.

"I don't know where you got that idea, but I promise that we aren't like that. And neither is Virgil, at least not willingly. He saved us from the Empire, even though he knew he'd get in trouble for it. I think all three of us would be willing to tell you everything we know, but in exchange, I'd like you to stay here for a bit. Virgil looks downright exhausted, and you look like you could do with some rest too. You two are welcome to use the bedrooms in the back.

"If you don't want to sleep, I've got some soup in the kitchen. You're welcome to that, too. We could all give some proper introductions and get to know each other a little bit better, or we can leave you alone. Whatever you want to do."

Roman watched on as Patton’s amiable disposition slipped through the man’s defenses.

"Yeah, I have no idea how I thought you could be any type of mean, gurl."

Patton just giggled, releasing Roman and moving towards the door.

"Let's get Virgil in a bed, and then we can figure out what to do next."

Patton corralled the man with Virgil still in his arms down the hallway, leaving Logan and Roman alone.

Roman studied his friend. He didn't have to be a mind reader to know exactly what was worrying him. Logan had worked for the Empire for several years, a fact that would no doubt unsettle both of their guests. It wasn't a time that Logan was proud of, nor one that he advertised, but his powers were bound to come out eventually. From there, nearly anyone could figure out Logan's previous identity; powers such as his were quite the rarity.

"Perhaps Jeremy is correct. Perhaps it would be best to allow Virgil's memories to come back of their own accord, instead of forcing anything upon him. We should not permit our own selfishness to dictate our actions. I know that we would prefer if he was familiar with us, but is that truly what is best for him and his brother?"

"Logan, you saw how much he wanted to know what happened. I think it would be more selfish to not tell him. I'm sure they will both understand, and if they don't, then they can leave."

“I do not wish to bring unease to either of them, Roman.”

“Hey, Lo,” Roman said, wrapping his hands around the older’s arm and pulling him onto the couch. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell them, at least not yet, because that’s not who you are. Let them get to know Logan Keene before Logic ever comes into the picture, okay? And quit that.”

Logan just gave his acquaintance a strange look.

“Quit thinking bad about yourself, or I’ll go get Patton.”

Logan gave a small smile at that. 

“I suppose we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” 

  
  



	6. Chapter 3 (Virgil)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's take on Remy's arrival.

Virgil frowned at the man in front of him. He would really rather be figuring out who was at the door, but he didn’t think that Patton had stopped talking for more than a breath, leaving no silence to eavesdrop on the conversation happening down the hall.

Luckily, he only had to listen to Patton chatter about the perfect way to bake a cookie for a short time more before Logan re-entered the room pulling a very familiar man behind him.

"Virgil, do you know this man?"

He had to say, he was quite surprised that Rem had already found him. His brother had been extremely protective after the accident, and while it was kind of nice to have someone always there to have his back, Virgil wasn’t exactly social by nature, so the sudden attention, even from his own brother, was strange.

Also, Virgil was feeling particularly impudent after a disagreement the two had had earlier in the day.

"What would you do if I said I didn't?"

"Virgil Xavier Maro," Remy bit out. "You are on very thin ice."

"Jeremy David Maro, aren't I always?" 

"You two are related?" Patton gasped, drawing the attention of both brothers.

"Yeah, we're brothers. I didn't tell you that?"

Virgil frowned. So, these people knew him, even for a short time, but he had never once mentioned Rem? That usually meant he didn’t trust someone. Virgil was getting really conflicting messages from his previous actions, and he hated it.

Remy knew something was wrong immediately, as Virgil rarely gave out information as he just had.

“What exactly have you been doing, gurl?”

"Not tonight, Remy. I knew them from before..." Virgil admitted hesitantly.

"You knew them from before? How'd you know that?"

Virgil didn’t think that Remy’s reaction was warranted. He noticed the man’s suddenly rigid posture and could hear the ice creeping into his voice.

"They recognized me, and I...well I think I recognize them. It's hazy, but-"

"But nothing. Doesn't matter, Vee. We're going home."

Now that definitely wasn’t warranted. Virgil knew that Rem was somewhat absent from most of the memories he had lost, and he had never put excessive effort into helping Virgil discover his past, but actively denying him that information? That was new. 

Virgil protested, earning a weak excuse in return. The two brothers argued, neither making any headway against the other.

“They're safe," Virgil insisted again.

"No, they're not."

After another round of argument, Logan interrupted.

"Excuse me, Virgil? Would you appreciate it if we were to leave for a period of time? I do not wish to make you or your brother uncomfortable.”

"Oh, yes, Remy,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes and letting sarcasm blanket his words. “They're so inconsiderate and dangerous. I wonder why I didn't see it sooner."

"Can't we talk at home, kid?"

He never dropped his tense stance, but Remy lost the bite to his words. Though outsiders would have barely caught the difference, Virgil was much too familiar with his brother’s habits to not recognize the exhaustion in his brother’s features. He almost felt bad for continuing to push back, but he also knew that these were the first people he had met that had known him before the accident and this may be the only chance he got to uncover his forgotten past.

"I'm not a kid Remy; I can make my own decisions. And right now, if they'll have me, I'm choosing to stay right here. You can go home, Rem. I'll be back eventually."

He wouldn’t. Virgil knew that that was the last thing Remy would consider doing. He protested vehemently, completely denying the possibility of leaving Virgil with these strangers. 

“Vee, it's time for bed."

Very vehemently, apparently. 

Oftentimes, Virgil appreciated his brother’s powers. He had suffered from uneasy sleep nearly his entire life, partially due to his own powers, and Remy’s ability to send him into a restful sleep was usually much appreciated. The man was almost always able to vanquish Virgil’s nightmares, leaving him in peace for the few hours of sleep he did get.

Now, however, sleep was the last thing Virgil wanted. He backed away from his brother futilely, despite knowing that there was no way Rem would miss as long as he was in the room.

Now that was an idea... 

Virgil subtly drew the shadows from beneath the couch towards him, stepping back once again. But, Remy must have sensed his plan, because the next second there was a ball of soothing golden particles in his face. 

Virgil felt the power from the particles seeping through his defenses, slowing his racing thoughts and lulling him into a false sense of security. His eyelids suddenly seemed about a thousand times heavier, and Virgil knew that resisting was futile. He felt himself falling, and then arms lifting him, and Virgil let himself drift into an easy sleep.

  
  



	7. Chapter 4 (Roman)

“Alrighty, then. I think we all know little bits of what’s going on, but nobody likes a puzzle with missing pieces. So, where do we want to start?”

Patton had gathered everyone back to the living room after settling Virgil in a pile of blankets on one of the beds, giving Virgil’s brother a quick tour around the cabin, and getting the man a cup of coffee. Roman and Logan were still sitting together on the couch, while Patton had sat on one of the chairs and Jeremy had chosen the other.

“I’ve heard the beginning’s usually pretty good. Um, well...Vee and I grew up on a farm. Pretty borin’, I know, but we had each other so it was cool. We were a pretty solitary family, not that Vee ever complained about that; he’s always liked to keep to himself when possible. But, and I still don’t even know how it happened, somehow somebody found out about Vee’s powers.

“They came by the farm, actin’ all nice and supportive and said, like, they wanted to help train him to use them properly, but Mum said no. They got mad at her and Dad, so they...killed ‘em.”

Jeremy paused, taking in a breath and letting it out slowly before resuming his tale.

“I was watching from the outside ‘cause Mum had told me to go get chores done, so they either didn’t know or didn’t care that I was there. But, yeah, they killed our parents and took Vee and I guess they, like, erased his memory. And, hate to break it to ya, Logan, but I have been looking for him. For eleven years. And no, we may not have been the best of brothers, but I would never, and I mean never, purposely hurt Virgil. But I’m not about to lose him again either, got it?”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry...”

Patton looked about ready to cry, and was barely restraining himself from leaping from his chair and engulfing the man in a hug. 

“I cannot say that I agree with your methods. Virgil is an adult who wishes to make his own decisions. Your relation to him and your past does not change the fact that you have no right to take that volition from him. However, I will apologize for my previous accusations, Jeremy. I do have my doubts that you truly act with sole intention to either harm him or help yourself.”

“First, cool, thanks, I guess. Second, please don’t ever call me Jeremy, like, ever again. It’s Remy.”

“Remy? Like the rat in Ratatouille, huh?” Roman said, attempting to steer the conversation to something simpler, more lighthearted. He doubted that Remy would appreciate them dwelling on his past with how quickly he had gone through his summary, and he knew that if he let Logan continue, only enemies would be made, neither of which were pleasant outcomes.

Remy shook his head fondly. 

“You know, that’s exactly why Vee made me watch that stupid movie like a thousand times.”

Roman grinned pointedly ignoring Logan’s cross expression; his plan had worked near-perfectly, and it wouldn’t be terrible to learn more about the man currently sleeping down the hall. 

“So you’re saying that he was not only a Disney fan, but a Pixar one as well?”

Remy laughed at the expression of pure joy on Roman’s face.

“I’m tellin’ you, I don’t care how old he actually is, he’s a child, and he can’t convince me otherwise. And, technically he’s like mentally eleven, maybe twelve, if he doesn’t remember the past half of his life. But, we’re getting off track. How do you y’all know the strange creature I call a brother?”

Patton took control, explaining how the three of them had come across Virgil, injured in an alleyway, and attempted to help him, only to discover who he was. He told of how Virgil’s previous partners had come, carefully leaving out Logan’s connection to them. He explained how they had been taken to the Empire, trapped until Virgil had risked his own freedom to help them escape.

“Oh! That reminds me, do you know what the misty stuff Virgil did was, Remy?”

“The...misty stuff? You mean his powers?”

The three vampires glanced at each other, very much confused.

“What exactly are Virgil’s powers?” Logan questioned, resigning his mild distaste of Remy in favor of fulfilling his curiosity; he was already reaching for the worn, leather-bound journal and pencil that always sat on the end table next to the couch.

“I mean, it’s kinda hard to explain. He basically embodies fear, but that’s, like, a really bad way to put it. He can sense fears, and then kinda interact with the most common ones. Like, he can practically talk to spiders, and sort of snakes, something he was never allowed to do in the house unless he was gettin’ ‘em out. He can, like, manipulate shadows, I guess, ‘cause they’re dark and lots of people are scared of the dark and, oh! He can, like, sink into them too. It’s really cool. He can also, like, make people scared or block their fear receptors, but the first one is usually when he’s too freaked out to keep himself under control. You keepin’ up there, Specs?”

Logan was furiously jotting down notes in his little notebook, barely sparing a moment to hum in affirmation. 

“But, yeah, I don’t think there’s like, really a name or anything for what he does. He’s just him.”

“And you?” Logan prodded. “You seemed to knock him unconscious, but is that the full extent of your power?”

“I can mess with dreams, too. Vee probably hates me for all the things I’ve put in his head at night., but it can come in handy too. I can communicate with him while he’s asleep, even if it isn’t all that often, and I can make sure he doesn’t have any nightmares.”

“So, you are only able to use your powers every so often? Is there something of a recharge period?”

Remy grinned at the man peering over his glasses at him.

“I mean, yeah, sorta, but I mostly just meant that the kid doesn’t sleep.”

“Ah, yes. He did mention insomnia, and I suppose that would account for the erratic sleep schedule that we witnessed.”

“Oh, poor thing,” Patton cooed.

“Yeah, even I can’t get him to conk out for more than an hour or so sometimes. He’s just too high strung. Actually, yeah. That, uh, reminds me. How exactly did you get him here this time? He’s not exactly a trusting sort, even if he did recognize you.”

Roman had known that it would come to this eventually, but he still wasn’t quite prepared to explain to Virgil’s brother how he had used Virgil as leverage and then drank from him to the point of unconsciousness. 

Luckily, he didn’t have to. 

Shuffling was heard down the hallway, drawing everyone’s attention to the door. Seconds later, Virgil stumbled in, rubbing at his eyes. He went straight over to Remy and plucked the cup of coffee from his hands. He ignored the incredulous look he received, instead opting to take a sip.

“Bastard,” Remy grumbled.

“Don’t talk about your parents that way.”

“You little-”

“Patton doesn’t like cussing.”

“Give me back my coffee and I won’t.”

Virgil just impudently took another sip.

“Ya know, you could’a just drank poison.”

“Nope,” Virgil grinned, popping the p with a grin. “You take very good care of your coffee. Nobody would have the chance to poison it.”

“You could get your own. Fresh from the pot, no poison.”

“Coffee is poison.”

Despite his statement, Virgil took another sip before slowly and deliberately licking the rim of the cup, earning a groan from his brother.

“You can’t say you're not a child, then act like that. Pick one and stick with it.”

Virgil just sank cross-legged to the ground, only barely protesting when Remy stole his cup of coffee back.

“We’re still here,” Virgil remarked, leaning against the side of Remy’s chair.

Remy just nodded. 

“Learn anything?”

“Enough.”

“Anything you’re going to tell me?”

“You’ve never had good sleeping patterns.”

“Hypocrite,” Virgil hissed. “I meant something important, Rem.”

“You do know ‘em. And I guess they might not be too bad. You were hurt, and they helped, and then things happened and y’all left and now we’re here. How did we get here, Vee?”

“Something happened and me and Roman both ended up in the same alley, and he needed something, and then they wanted to be nice, so Roman brought me here and Patton fed me soup and then you came and you know more than I do from then on.”

“Hold on, rewind, what?”

“You want to be vague, I will too. Patton, what all did you tell him?”

Patton met Remy’s eyes. 

“No! Patton, he doesn’t get to decide what I get to know and what I don’t. I’m an adult.”

“You’re also stressed and worried and sleep-deprived and I don’t wanna deal with you when you’re emotionally unstable. M’kay?”

“I always am. Nothing’s changed, Remy, so why can’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

“Another hour, babe. Please.”

Virgil hesitated, eyeing the occupants of the room.

“You’ll explain everything?”

“Everything I can, Vee. Promise.”

“Can you…” Virgil trailed off in silent question.

“‘Course.”

Remy slid to the ground and pulled Virgil down with him, resting Virgil’s head in his lap. He let the same golden particles from earlier trail from the fingertips of one hand into Virgil’s face, while the other hand carded through Virgil’s purple locks. They all watched on in silence as he curled up against Remy and drifted off.

“Awww!” Patton squealed quietly, and Roman couldn’t help but agree.

It was strange, how at ease Virgil seemed. Roman could say with confidence that he hadn’t seen Virgil with that much of a lack of worry or panic in any of their interactions until that point. Remy, too, seemed less intense now that his brother was in his arms. It didn’t seem to fit the image he had formed of the coffee lover, but Roman didn’t know what to believe.

“Sorry ‘bout that. And I hope y’all are cool with him just crashing on your living room floor. He probably would have changed his mind again by the time we got back to that bedroom if we’d’ave gone, and I’ll take any chance I can get to get him to sleep.”

“It is acceptable, Remy. However, I must inquire, would it truly be wise to continue a conversation for fear of waking him?”

“Probably not, if you’re cool with that.”

“Quite. Patton has several duties to take care of in the kitchen, and Roman has discovered a new screenplay. I can compile my notes and continue with a book I have been reading. Would you be opposed to anyone sitting in here?”

“Nah, it’s your place. But, hey, could you toss me that pillow?”

When the vampires returned to the room, they found Remy asleep as well, his brother curled into his side.

  
  



	8. Chapter 5 (Roman)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t really feel the need to write Chapter 4 in Virgil’s POV since he’s asleep for pretty much all of it. So...on to the story!

Roman moved back up to the couch for the ninth time in the past six hours. He could never understand how Logan could sit in the same place working on the same thing for so long. He had managed to get into his screenplay for a while before he had taken to doodling in a notepad. He had dozed off at some point, but was woken by Patton coming in to check on them. He had moved to sit on the floor to wake himself up, then lay down, before moving back to the couch and repeating his cycle. He had probably driven Logan mad ages ago. Patton hadn’t even considered remaining in the still silence after the brief check-in; he had excused himself to go outside before five minutes had passed.

Roman was debating whether or not he would get smacked if he shifted to the floor again when he heard movement across the room. Virgil was shifting in his sleep, eyes scrunched closed. He began mumbling quietly, getting more and more agitated as the seconds passed by.

Logan put down his book and rose. He moved to Virgil’s side and knelt, gently shaking him from his nightmare. Virgil shot up, backing away from Logan’s hand. When his wide eyes processed the situation in front of him, he began inching further from Logan’s still-outstretched arm, gaze never leaving Logan’s form.

“Y-y-you, y-you, your-”

“Hey, babe, breathe. What’s up?”

Roman hadn’t even noticed that Remy had awoken as well.

“H-h-he’s L-lo-logic.”

Logan winced. That fact had come out much sooner than any of them had expected. Roman moved towards them slowly, ready to step in between the fairly unknown possible adversary and Logan if the need arose.

“Vee, I need ya to breathe. You’re not making any sense there. He’s logical?”

“N-no. L-logic. Th-the E-empire. L-lo-”

Virgil began to hyperventilate, deaf to Remy’s attempted consolations. Roman watched on as Patton entered the room, immediately going to sit next to Virgil.

“Virgil, honey, it’s going to be alright. You need to breathe sweetie. Do you remember that grounding exercise we did before? I need you to tell me five things you can see. Anything, anything at all. You can do it.”

After several moments, Virgil fluttered open the eyes he had squeezed shut in an attempt to block out the world, glancing around his immediate surroundings. 

“Y-your h-hand, R-r-remy, the chair, um, my, j-jacket, and, h-how many is th-that?”

“That’s four, kiddo. My hand, Remy, the chair, your jacket…”

“A-and my s-shoes.”

“Good job, honey. Now can you tell me four things you can touch?”

Virgil took a steadying breath.

“The wall, m-my hoodie, a r-rug, and my jeans, I g-guess.”

“Good. Now, what about three things you can hear?”

“M-my breathing, your breathing, and R-roman pacing.”

“He’s pretty restless. I’m kinda surprised he didn’t wake you up before. Where were we, two things you can smell?”

“Pine needles?”

“Yup, I was out walking in the forest!”

“And, uh, vanilla. Do you always smell like vanilla?”

Patton just smiled.

“One thing you can taste?”

“Your…” Virgil gasped. “Patton, did you make me cookies before?”

Patton giggled, nodding enthusiastically. Roman watched as Virgil’s eyes widened in remembrance, scanning the cheerful vampire in front of him.

“You...like to bake, but not for them. You care for them. You trust them. Why do you trust them, him? He’s-”

“Logic? I know, kiddo. But you’re right. I do trust him. Logan is a sweetheart, and any stories you’ve heard aren’t what he’s like now. I think you know that, Virgil. Even if you can’t remember perfectly right now, I think you know deep down that he’s not gonna hurt you, or your brother.”

Virgil scooted closer to his brother before shifting his attention warily to the man still kneeling several feet away.

“You didn’t tell Remy.”

“No. And whether that was the right choice or the wrong one, I do not know for certain. But, you both are still here, and you remember something that you didn’t before, so I’d like to think it was the correct choice. What do you think, Virgil?”

Virgil looked to his brother, almost as if asking permission; he only got a glare in return.

“Logan?”

“Yes, Virgil?”

“You take notes of everything, right?”

“Not everything, per se, but I take notes oftentimes, yes. Would you like to read through my notebook?”

Virgil nodded sheepishly.

“It is perfectly acceptable, Virgil. I was going to offer eventually no matter the situation. I assumed that an objective outlook on events would be beneficial for you.”

Logan placed his journal on the floor near Virgil before moving back to where he had been previously sitting.

“Would you like me to leave, Virgil?”

Virgil studied Logan carefully through his purple bangs. He shook his head, moving closer to the vampire to fetch the journal on the floor. He carefully examined the journal, but refrained from opening it.

“You used your powers on me.”

“We wished to uncover what was happening.”

“And you did, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Virgil debated the journal in his hands once again before putting it down. He turned to his brother.

“Virgil-”

“W-we’re not leaving. I trust him, them. You do too.”

“You can’t tell me how to feel, Vee.”

“I’m your brother, Rem. I already know how you feel.”

“That was before...he’s with the Empire, Virgil.”

“Was. Not anymore. Remy, I trust him. He’s not going to hurt anyone.”

“Oh, and that’s why you were having a panic attack, right?”

Roman moved closer, drawing the attention of both of the brothers. 

“Hey…”

He didn’t really have a plan, but if they were to get anywhere without completely hating each other, everyone needed to stop bickering amongst themselves. 

“I think everyone is just a bit stressed out right now. How about we get settled down, and then we can all get this whole mess figured out together. Does that sound alright?”

Roman’s proposition was met with a variety of answers. Virgil and Patton agreed wholeheartedly, while Remy was on the other end of the spectrum. Logan was indifferent, still offering to leave if his presence was making anyone uncomfortable.

“Huh-uh. You ain't goin’ anywhere,  _ Logic _ . If we’re stayin’ even a minute longer, you’re gonna be where I can see you.”

“Rem,” Virgil hissed. “Quit it.”

“I’ll quit it when you stop being an idiot.”

“Done. Can you shut up now?”

Roman sighed, internally wondering if all siblings acted this way towards one another. 

“Vee...deal time. We’ll stay if you can convince me that you aren’t brainwashed or somethin’ and that these people aren’t dangerous. And none of that ‘I’ve got a feeling’ nonsense.”

Virgil took his brother’s hand, sealing the deal.


	9. Chapter 5 (Virgil)

_ “Do you not remember?” _

_ "I know you have questions for me, Virgil. I don't intend to keep anything from you." _

_ “Just days ago you stole something of ours, Keene.” _

_ “You can’t keep him this time.” _

_ “Don’t take him!” _

_ “Go ahead.” _

Half-remembered conversations flooded Virgil’s head, strange people finding their way into his dreams- 

No, not dreams, memories; Virgil had met each and every one of them, he was sure of it. He tried to focus on the images and scenes playing out around him, but each time Virgil got close enough to make things out clearly, the image faded into darkness. 

Virgil held his breath; voices were coming up behind him. He didn’t dare move, fearing that if he did, the scene would cease as the rest of them had. 

_ “Deceit.” _

Virgil knew that voice. It was so tantalizingly familiar that Virgil could barely keep himself from turning to face the conversation progressing behind him.

_ "Keene. How unpredictable." _

That voice was less familiar, yet not completely unknown, and made Virgil uneasy. It seemed smooth, too smooth to be trustworthy. Virgil suspected that the voice’s owner had had much experience with convincing others to carry out his will, while he did whatever he wanted.

_ "You are not welcome here, Deceit." _

So the smooth voice belonged to Deceit. Virgil had a feeling that it was an apt name.

_ "Way to be a buzzkill, Logic. And come on, you know I just love showing up where I'm not invited!" _

That voice was far different than the other two. It seemed rough and uncivilized, and seemed to invite trouble.

_ "Duke, Deceit, you will leave this house at once." _

Logan. The voice belonged to Logan, Virgil was sure of it.

_ "Oh, of course, Logic. Whatever you say, Logic." _

Virgil gasped, spinning around, only to find the scene fading from view. He could hear bits of voices, but they held little structure, confusing Virgil. He chased the voices desperately, though he only managed to trip himself in his haste. He shot up again, escaping the hand that had descended upon his shoulder. Virgil backed away further, taking in his surroundings. 

He was in a living room, the same one in which he had fallen asleep. He must have reacted in his sleep and Logan must have woken him. 

Logan.  _ Logic _ . Virgil unconsciously flinched away, warring with conflicting emotions between past and present memories.

“Y-y-you, y-you, your-” Virgil mentally cursed at his stuttering, trying to slow his mind down enough to form coherent words.

“Hey, babe, breathe. What’s up?”

Remy.  _ Safety _ . He was probably completely ignorant to Logan’s alter ego.

“H-h-he’s L-lo-logic.” 

Well, not anymore. He hadn’t really meant to let that slip out, but Virgil could barely process his thoughts at the moment.

“Vee, I need ya to breathe. You’re not making any sense there. He’s logical?”

“N-no. L-logic. Th-the E-empire. L-lo-”

Why couldn’t he shut up? Virgil knew that if Remy understood the point he was trying to make, they would be gone before anything could be solved. But, he couldn’t suppress the part of himself screaming “ _ danger, get away _ .”

Virgil began to hyperventilate, unable to force himself to breathe properly.

Then Patton was there, trying to soothe him, asking him to cooperate, to ground himself. Patton ran him through his senses. First sight, then touch, then hearing. By the time they reached smell, Virgil had gotten his breathing back in check and had slowed his mind enough to think clearly.

“Pine needles?”

“Yup, I was out walking in the forest!”

“And, uh, vanilla. Do you always smell like vanilla?”

Virgil watched a smile form on Patton’s lips.

“One thing you can taste?”

“Your-” Virgil stopped in surprise. The sweet taste of buttery dough and chocolate had settled on his tongue, warm and melting...

“Patton, did you make me cookies before?”

Patton giggled, making Virgil smile. 

_ He remembered _ . 

There were still gaps, but he could clearly recall knowing Patton. Patton, who had made him pancakes and cookies and had let Virgil stay in his room full of blankets, stuffed animals, and pictures.

“You...like to bake, but not for them. You care for them. You trust them. Why do you trust them, him? He’s-”

Virgil didn’t really know how he had intended to finish that sentence. The segment of the past made some bit of sense, and now he just needed the rest of the pieces of the puzzle.

“Logic? I know, kiddo. But you’re right. I do trust him. Logan is a sweetheart, and any stories you’ve heard aren’t what he’s like now. I think you know that, Virgil. Even if you can’t remember perfectly right now, I think you know deep down that he’s not gonna hurt you, or your brother.”

That...didn’t really help. But, the longer Virgil watched them and thought through the events he  _ did _ remember, the more the events came together, and the more he could remember of his time with them. The more he realized that Patton was right. Logan meant no harm. He had proven himself to Virgil before, and would no doubt do it again if necessary.

Virgil caught slight movement next to him. Remy no longer had any doubt as to what Virgil had meant before; the man was preparing for a fight. Virgil moved to his side, stilling his brother’s preparations. 

“You didn’t tell Remy,” Virgil remarked, still watching his brother warily from the corner of his eye.

“No. And whether that was the right choice or the wrong one, I do not know for certain. But, you both are still here, and you remember something that you didn’t before, so I’d like to think it was the correct choice. What do you think, Virgil?”

Virgil sensed no falsity in the words; he hadn’t in any of their comments, further securing his trust in them. Remy, however, would be a harder sell.

The brothers met each other’s eyes, a silent argument passing between them. After a moment, Remy conceded with a glare.

“Logan?”

“Yes, Virgil?”

“You take notes of everything, right?”

“Not everything, per se, but I take notes oftentimes, yes. Would you like to read through my notebook?”

Virgil was taken aback by how easy that had been, but nodded nonetheless.

“It is perfectly acceptable, Virgil. I was going to offer eventually no matter the situation. I assumed that an objective outlook on events would be beneficial for you.”

Logan retrieved his notebook from the coffee table immediately behind him and placed it on the ground, nudging it towards Virgil before withdrawing back to the table as if dealing with a wild animal.

“Would you like me to leave, Virgil?”

Virgil considered his options, ultimately deciding that if Logan was out of sight, Remy would be even more on edge. He shook his head before moving closer to grab the journal on the floor. He thumbed the pages, closing his eyes. Virgil forced himself to follow the loose ends, the unfinished memories. He pushed himself to think,  _ remember _ .

“You used your powers on me.”

“We wished to uncover what was happening,” was Logan’s even reply.

“And you did, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Virgil studied the book in his hands, before returning it to the ground in front of him. He could deal with it later. Right now, his brother was more important.

“Virgil-”

“We’re not leaving. I trust him, them. You do too.”

“You can’t tell me how to feel, Vee.”

“I’m your brother, Rem. I already know how you feel.”

“That was before...he’s with the Empire, Virgil.”

“Was. Not anymore. Remy, I trust him. He’s not going to hurt anyone.”

“Oh, and that’s why you were having a panic attack, right?”

Roman approached them from across the room, and with perfect timing, too. Virgil didn’t know how he was planning on explaining to his brother that the panic attack had stemmed, not from knowing more about Logan, but from not knowing enough, and not being able to process the information that he did know quickly enough.

“Hey…I think everyone is just a bit stressed out right now. How about we get settled down, and then we can all get this whole mess figured out together. Does that sound alright?”

Virgil assented immediately, as did Patton.

“Perhaps it would be wise to let you all work through recent discoveries without my presence hindering you.”

“Huh-uh. You ain't goin’ anywhere,  _ Logic _ . If we’re stayin’ even a minute longer, you’re gonna be where I can see you.”

“Rem, quit it.”

But, Virgil wasn’t completely deterred by his brother’s answer. There was still a chance for him to convince Remy that a former Empire member wasn’t necessarily a bad person, which would be a lot easier said than done.

“I’ll quit it when you stop being an idiot.”

“Done. Can you shut up now?”

“Vee…”

Virgil could see his brother contemplating his options. Remy and Virgil had shared many arguments about Remy’s overbearing protective instinct towards his brother, even before the accident. Virgil could see that Remy knew how much his decision to try to protect Virgil from these people from his unknown past could backfire, and could ultimately end in pushing Virgil even further away.

“Deal time. We’ll stay if you can convince me that you aren’t brainwashed or somethin’ and that these people aren’t dangerous. And none of that ‘I’ve got a feeling’ nonsense.”

Now for the hard part…


	10. Chapter 6 (Roman)

Roman, Logan, and Patton moved to the couch, with Virgil and Remy sitting opposite them in two chairs. Remy seemed on edge, while Virgil bordered more on unsure. He was fiddling intently with his hoodie sleeve.

“Remy...” Virgil started.

“Virgil.”

“...I can’t. They are dangerous. So are you, and so am I. Anyone can be dangerous. But Patton? Roman? Logan? They made the choice to not cause harm or pain or death any more than you, Rem. I don’t think that decisions made in the past should be what you base your entire impression of them on. Of anyone, really.”

Roman found himself wondering if the boy would be so forgiving of his own previous actions when he found out about them. According to Remy, Virgil would despise his alter ego of Anxiety, and based upon previous experience, it would be more of a threat to his mental health than anything or anyone else.

“Fair, but you’re basically pardoning every murderer out there.”

“Do you blame Mum?”

“What does Mum have to do with this?” Remy bit out at his younger brother, clenching the fresh cup of coffee in his hands tighter.

“She broke the law. She didn’t turn me over to people that were working with the government at the time, and are practically the government now.”

Roman could tell from Remy’s face that Virgil wasn’t supposed to know what had happened that day, or at least hadn’t before.

“...She was trying to protect her family.”

“Do you know why Logan joined the Empire?” Virgil said, shifting the conversation from an obviously painful topic.

“Do you?”

“I can guess. He’s a vampire. You know what the Empire does to anything supernatural.”

“Logic’s already messing with your head. Six months and you don’t remember nothin’, then BANG! Suddenly everything comes back?” Remy retorted sharply, sparing a glare towards the couch.

“That’s not what we’re talking about right now, and I don’t remember everything, just bits and pieces. Now shut up and let me convince you, or just agree with me already!”

Roman smiled, gently elbowing Patton when the younger let out a soft laugh. 

“I agree with you that they are dangerous.”

Virgil lashed out at Remy with his foot, though there didn’t seem to be any real malice behind the action, contrary to his expression. Roman was reminded of the saying “if looks could kill,” knowing that if it were true, Remy would no longer be breathing.

“See? Now you’re attacking me!” Remy said overdramatically, bringing a hand to his heart in an exaggerated gesture of shock. “Definitely brainwashed.”

Roman concluded that Virgil was some sort of cat as the man in question hissed. It certainly wasn’t the first time he had heard the inhuman sound escape Virgil.

Remy grinned, before remembering himself and his current situation.

“You didn’t remember being kidnapped until now, Virgil. You still don’t remember the past however many years. Somebody messed with your head, who’s to say it wasn’t Logic? You admitted to him using his powers on you, babe.”

“I was kidnapped…”

Horror filled Remy’s face. He tried to deny his previous words, but Virgil cut him off.

“I was kidnapped by the Empire. Remy...” Virgil’s voice cracked. “What did I do?” 

The question was met by silence.

“Please, Remy. I have to know.”

The silence was getting overwhelming now. Roman was about to break it himself, but Logan beat him to it.

“I can assure you, your transgressions are far less than you may imagine. I can only hypothesize what occurred for a majority of the time you spent with the Empire, but ‘Anxiety,’ your alias, only came into play a few years ago, and even then, there was nothing of high recognition. You went on jobs of little import with men named Remus and Janus, better known as-”

“Duke and Deceit,” Virgil muttered in shock.

“Vee…” Remy attempted to console his younger brother with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“No, No! Get off of me. Remy, you knew! You knew, didn’t you? You knew and you didn’t tell me because you were trying to  _ protect _ me.” Virgil spat out the word “protect” as if it were the most deadly poison in the world.

“Vee...” Remy tried pointlessly.

“Leave me alone, Jeremy.”

“Virgil.”

“No. If you can’t listen to me, why the hell should I care about what you say? I’m not eleven anymore. I don’t need my big brother to protect me from the ‘big bad world.’ If you didn’t like what I was, what I  _ am _ , you should have left, not pretend that it didn’t happen. Not when I needed to know. You can forgive the past, but you can’t erase it.”

“Virgil, I-”

“I need you to leave, Remy, or...or I can’t promise we can fix this.”

“...okay.”

Roman’s head shot up. After all of the arguments and disagreement in the past several hours over the exact same issue, Remy was just leaving? The three vampires watched as the man showed himself out of the cabin without another word.

Roman turned his attention to Virgil, who had just stood from his chair.

“I need to go, too,” Virgil said quietly.

“No!” Roman protested a bit more loudly than he had intended, earning a nearly-imperceptible flinch from Virgil.

“No?”

“It’s still dark,” Roman explained more calmly. “And you’re in an unfamiliar place. What if you get lost?”

Virgil forced a feeble smile.

“I’ll be fine. I just need some time to process. I’ll head home after. I’m sorry for all of this.”

Patton stepped in front of Roman, though he stopped several feet from the boy across the room.

“You have nothing to apologize for, kiddo. But, if you are going to go outside, please be careful, sweetie. Just call out if you need anything. And you’re always welcome to come back, alright? Even if it’s not for very long, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we want to make sure you’re safe.”

Virgil nodded, agreeing that he would return the following day.

“Oh, I do hope he’s careful,” Patton said woefully. “And that we haven’t scared either of them too badly.”

Roman and Logan nodded in agreement.


	11. Chapter 6 (Virgil)

“Remy.”

“Virgil.”

“...I can’t. They are dangerous. So are you, and so am I. Anyone can be dangerous. But Patton? Roman? Logan? They made the choice to not cause harm or pain or death any more than you, Rem. I don’t think that decisions made in the past should be what you base your entire impression of them on. Of anyone, really.”

Virgil had the feeling that it wasn’t just Logan he was talking about.

“Fair, but you’re basically pardoning every murderer out there.”

“Do you blame Mum?”

Virgil didn’t really know where that came from, but a bit of memory he had seen while dreaming was nagging at his mind.

“What does Mum have to do with this?”

“She broke the law. She didn’t turn me over to people that were working with the government at the time, and are practically the government now.”

Remy froze in shock. He gaped at his brother and the mention of a time of which Virgil had had no recollection.

“...she was trying to protect her family.”

“Do you know why Logan joined the Empire?” 

“Do you?”

“I can guess. He’s a vampire. You know what the Empire does to anything supernatural.”

Remy was silent. Of course he knew; he was just too stubborn to admit that there was a chance that Virgil had a point.

“Logic’s already messing with your head. Six months and you don’t remember nothin’, then BANG! Suddenly everything comes back?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about right now, and I don’t remember everything, just bits and pieces. Now shut up and let me convince you, or just agree with me already!”

Virgil heard a soft laugh from the couch from the otherwise silent vampires. He was grateful that they had abstained from the conversation, or else they would have just pissed Remy off even more, and no one wanted to deal with a pissed off Remy. 

“I agree with you that they are dangerous.”

Virgil kicked out at his brother’s shin, glaring murderously.

“See? Now you’re attacking me! Definitely brainwashed.”

Virgil hissed, earning a small grin from his brother. The smile faded soon, though.

“You didn’t remember being kidnapped, Virgil. You still don’t remember the past however many years. Somebody messed with your head, who’s to say it wasn’t Logic? You admitted to him using his powers on you, babe.”

Realization finally dawned on Virgil. 

“I was kidnapped…”

Remy froze.

“I was kidnapped by the Empire.”

Remy wouldn’t meet his eyes, and he found that there was a similar situation with the others in the room.

“Remy…” Virgil winced at the crack in his voice. “What did I do?” he whispered, scared to find out yet even more terrified to not know.

Silence permeated the air.

“Please, Remy. I have to know.”

It wasn’t Remy, but Logan who broke the silence. 

“I can assure you, your transgressions are far less than you may imagine. I can only hypothesize what occurred for a majority of the time you spent with the Empire, but ‘Anxiety,’ your alias, only came into play a few years ago, and even then, there was nothing of high recognition. You went on jobs of little import with men named Remus and Janus, better known as-”

“Duke and Deceit,” Virgil muttered hoarsely.

He had worked with the Empire. He was a horrible person. It didn’t matter of how “little import” his “jobs” had been. In fact, that probably made it worse. They were still people, probably innocent beings who had done nothing wrong. 

And  _ Deceit _ . He had worked with the worst of the worst. Little was known of Deceit, only that he was the current leader of the Empire, and he had helped drive the change from a small organization to a thing which had taken over even the democratic committee that had previously governed the country.

“Vee…” a careful hand found its way to Virgi’s shoulder in an attempt to placate him.

“No, No!”

He didn’t deserve to be comforted. 

“Get off of me. Remy, you knew!” Virgil realized.

That was why his brother hadn’t helped him in his search to uncover his past.

“You knew, didn’t you? You knew and you didn’t tell me because you were trying to  _ protect _ me.” 

Virgil was downright sick of his brother’s protective instinct. He was sick of being treated like a child. Sick of the entire situation, if he was being quite honest. 

“Vee...”

“Leave me alone, Jeremy.”

“Virgil.”

“No. If you can’t listen to me, why the hell should I care about what you say? I’m not eleven anymore. I don’t need my big brother to protect me from the ‘big bad world.’ If you didn’t like what I was, what I  _ am _ , you should have left, not pretend that it didn’t happen. Not when I needed to know. You can forgive the past, but you can’t erase it.”

Virgil couldn’t decide how he was feeling. He was scared. Scared of himself and what he was capable of. He was angry about all the dishonesty and coverups from his brother. He was disgusted by whatever it was that he had done with the Empire. He was...overwhelmed. That was probably the most accurate at the moment.

“Virgil, I-”

“I need you to leave, Remy, or...or I can’t promise we can fix this.”

“...okay.”

Virgil took a steadying breath as his older brother left the room. Now that he couldn’t take his anger out on someone else, he felt it begin to direct back towards himself. 

“I need to go, too,” Virgil said, standing suddenly. 

“No!” 

Virgil flinched at the loud volume and the implications despite himself.

“No?”

“It’s still dark and you’re in an unfamiliar place. What if you get lost?”

Virgil forced out a smile; he was positive that it looked just about as fake as it was.

“I’ll be fine. I just need some time to process. I’ll head home after. I’m sorry for all of this.”

Patton moved towards him, though he seemed to think better of coming all the way to Virgil. Virgil was thankful that the very tactile man had realized his limits at the moment.

“You have nothing to apologize for, kiddo. But, if you are going to go outside, please be careful, sweetie. Just call out if you need anything. And you’re always welcome to come back, alright? Even if it’s not for very long, I think I can speak for all of us when I say we want to make sure you’re safe.”

“I can stop by sometime tomorrow.”

The cold of the outside air made Virgil realize just how stifling the living room had been growing. He ventured farther from the glowing windows of the cabin, making his way carefully over roots and around trees. He had never had much trouble navigating through the dark, and the menial task was almost soothing. He trekked until the cabin was just a dim glow in the distance before finding a tree with branches low enough that he could hoist himself onto. 

Virgil finally found a branch a good distance off the ground that he was satisfied with before letting down the dam holding his thoughts back. 


	12. Chapter 7 (Roman)

Roman shot up to the sound of a knock at the front door. He made his way out of the living room, careful not to disturb Logan, who had fallen asleep sprawled next to him on the couch, or step on Patton, who had somehow fallen asleep curled up on the floor with all the pillows in the room stacked around him.

The vampire rubbed at his eyes, checking the nearest clock. 

6:37 a.m.

As much as Roman wanted to know that Virgil was alright, he didn’t see why he had to come back at 6:37 in the morning. Roman needed, well, wanted his beauty sleep. Technically, vampires didn’t need as much sleep as humans, but the change in routine would still have an effect. While the erratic sleep schedule hadn’t bothered him nearly as much when lives had been at stake, now that everyone he cared for was safe, it really was quite annoying.

Roman sighed, attempting to straighten his hair, before opening the door to find...not Virgil. Instead, Virgil’s brother stood at the door, hand poised to knock again. He looked immensely distressed and was clenching yet another coffee cup so tightly that it looked about ready to burst.

Roman gestured away from the house, shutting the door quietly behind him. There was really no point in waking the other two just yet. 

The sky was so filled with heavy grey clouds that Roman was more worried about rain than shine at the moment. They probably shouldn’t venture too far from the cabin in case the clouds decided to attempt to drench them.

“I prob’ly shouldn’t be here right now,” Remy started. “But I...he’s alright, right? ‘Cause one of my people was saying that they had word from a friend that was talking to somebody that saw-”

“Hold on, Remy. What are you talking about?”

“Well, I was getting there!” Remy snapped, before taking a sip of coffee and letting out a sigh. “Sorry. It's been a long night.”

“It looks like it. Did you get any sleep after you went home?”

“That’s what the coffee’s for, babe.”

Roman sighed. He was vividly reminded of when Logan had first been introduced to coffee. That had been one nightmare Roman never wanted to relive again.

“That can’t be good for you, Remy.”

“Never said it was, but it’s not going to change anytime soon. Anyway, I’m not here to get reprimanded for my habits.”

“Of course not,” Roman agreed. “And why are you here?”

“I’m worried about Vee. And I know that he’d probably hate me even more if he knew I was here talkin’ to you about this, but after...I just don’t wanna lose him again. I know he doesn’t like me barging into his life all the time, but he’s all I’ve got left, and I swore that I’d protect him.”

“I think that’s a noble cause, Remy. Perhaps if you were a bit less forceful, he would accept your nurturing with more willingness.”

“I can try…”

“Also, Remy, I feel that I need to apologize for causing you distress. As far as we knew, Virgil didn’t have family to go to, and with the situation, it seemed like the best choice to bring him with me. It didn’t hurt that we’ve all taken a liking to him, even if we didn’t know him all that long. He’s a good person, Remy; I’m sorry that the Empire had to go and take him away from you.” 

“Yeah, me too. Thank you, Roman.”

“Now, what were you going on about? A friend of a friend saw a friend…?”

“Oh, right. A source told me they saw a man who looked a hell of a lot like the Duke.”

“...what?!”

It was never a good sign when one of the more prominent members of the Empire was spotted, but here? As far as Roman knew, this town had never seen one, which was one of the reasons Roman, Logan, and Patton had decided to settle down where they did.

Now that Virgil was here, it was an even less desirable outcome. If he had been forced to become Anxiety before, it could probably be done again. Also, Roman just didn’t want to see him hurt.

“The Duke is  _ here _ ? How reliable is this source, exactly?

“Trust me, I wouldn’t’ave told you if I wasn’t at least fairly sure it wasn’t true.”

“Have you told Virgil yet?”

“Told Vee? I found out this morning. How could I have told him?”

That wasn’t good. What was it that Remy had said when he had first gotten there? Something about making sure Virgil was alright, hadn’t it been? Roman hadn’t realized what that had meant until now.

“Virgil didn’t make it home last night, did he?”

Roman watched the look of horror grow on the coffee addict’s face. 

“He said he was going home after he processed everything.”

“Yeah, well he didn’t.”

“You don’t think…”

“He better not have,” Remy growled. “If I hear that that bastard even looked at my baby brother the wrong way, he’s dead. I don’t care who he’s got backing him.”

Personally, Roman supported Remy’s plan, but resorting to violence against the Duke of all people probably wouldn’t end well. The Duke didn’t care who got hurt in the altercations he was a part of; in fact, he relished in other people’s pain, and Roman wouldn’t be surprised if he were some sort of  masochist as well .

“I...don’t think that’s the best way to go about this, Remy. We don’t even know if Virgil and the Duke are together. For all we know, Virgil could have just gotten lost in the forest somewhere.”

“Is that s’posed to make me feel better?” Remy said, once again squeezing his cup of coffee.

“Yes, actually. If he is still in the forest, we can find him easily. I’ll be able to recognize the scent of his blood.”

Remy looked a little pale at that.

“Please don’t ever say that again.”

“...right. Sorry. Shall we then? We will be able to cover more ground if we split up, but I don’t know how wise that would be with the possibility of the Duke here. Would you be comfortable with going in pairs? I can go wake Logan and Patton.”

Remy grimaced, but nodded all the same.

“As long as I’m not goin’ with Logic.”

Roman agreed, before turning back to the cabin to wake his friends and find Virgil.


	13. Chapter 8 (Roman)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter from Roman’s POV. Just a warning, there are mentions of blood in this chapter.

Roman sniffed the air again before adjusting his course slightly and continuing through the trees.

“That is incredibly weird, babe,” Remy remarked, looking somewhat uneasy.

“Yes,” Roman agreed. “But it works.”

The pair walked in silence for several minutes.

“You’re sure this is the way to Vee? Like, there’s no way you can just memorize the smell of everybody’s blood that you ever meet.”

“True, but I’ve had the chance to catch the scent recently.”

“Can you stop saying stuff like that?”

Roman grinned apologetically.

“Sure, but you did start it.”

The two trekked on.

“Okay, but like, I can’t just not ask,” Remy said frustratedly after several minutes, earning another grin from Roman. “Like, can you smell blood through a person’s skin? Could you find me just because I’ve been around you? That could be, like, seriously handy, but also very worrying. I don’t like the idea of someone being able to track me and me not being able to do anything about it.”

“Well, I mean, to a certain extent, yes. But it gets easier to recognize the more often I’ve smelt a person’s blood while it’s not in their body, like if a person is bleeding. If I’ve ever fed from a person, I can recognize their scent almost instantly. You, on the other hand, I would probably be able to recognize with my eyes before I could pick out your blood’s scent, especially with how much coffee you drink. Strong smells do a good job of throwing vampires off. That’s actually where the whole garlic thing came from.”

“Really? Cool. But...exactly how many times does that mean you’ve seen Virgil bleed? And...you haven’t fed from him, right?” Remy said accusingly.

Oh. Roman had honestly forgotten that Remy was still unaware of what has gotten Virgil to the cabin in the first place.

“Well? That’s a long pause for somebody who’s not hiding anything.”

“You are a very protective brother, and I don’t exactly want to get on your bad side.”

“So you did something worthy of getting on my bad side?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then what exactly are you saying? This whole conversation seems pretty suspicious, babe.”

“I…when we first met Virgil, he was injured, had a gash down his leg. And then, yes. I did...feed from him. But he consented. In fact, he was the one who initiated it. I was starving and wasn’t exactly thinking straight, but he saved my life. There was a hunter and Virgil must have done something to shoo him off and then...yeah.”

Roman looked uncomfortable as Remy studied him, judging the plausibility of his explanation.

“Did it hurt him?”

“I mean, nothing irreversible. I might have taken a bit more than I meant to, but I brought him to the cabin and Patton made him some soup to replenish vitamins and minerals and such.”

Remy frowned. He turned to look at something other than Roman, almost walking straight into a tree by accident.

“Are you alright, Remy?”

Remy, ignoring Roman, reached out a cautious hand and touched the trunk gingerly. He pulled away, spinning back to face Roman. He shoved his fingers to Roman’s face, shaking slightly.

“Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

Remy’s fingers were painted with a red substance that hit Roman’s nose forcefully.

Virgil’s blood.

“He was here. That blood is fairly fresh; he’s probably still near.”

A look of grim determination settled on Remy’s face. 

“He fell out of the tree,” Remy said, gesturing to another branch a bit farther up with another smear of blood. “That means something startled him. We need to find him, Roman. Now.”

“Of course. I’ll-”

A holler caught the two’s attention. The next second, Patton and Logan appeared in sight.

“Roman! You caught the trail too! Is he…”

Remy revealed his blood-stained fingertips with a grimace.

“Oh no! We should hurry! He’s hurt!”

Roman took a moment, before starting off in a different direction, almost perpendicular to the way they had come from.

Remy caught up with Roman, and Logan and Patton trailed behind a bit, looking for any indication of Virgil’s current situation. 

They walked for about ten minutes; Roman had once again caught what he was sure was Virgil’s scent.

“Would you quit that infernal whistling?” Logan shouted from behind Roman and Remy. “I can’t focus, Roman.”

Roman stopped in his tracks, allowing the two behind them to catch up.

“What’s up, kiddo?”

“Shh, Patton. Listen.”

All four were silent, then-

“I hear it! But wait, Ro, that’s not Vee, is it?”

“One way to find out.”

Remy looked thoroughly confused but followed behind as Roman and Patton led the way to some sound that a human’s ears couldn’t hear from this distance.

They cut through the underbrush quickly, and after several minutes, the whistling had gotten close enough that a tune could be made out and the sound could be caught by Remy as well.

“We’re close.”

The whistling cut out suddenly.

“Patton, what had I said about jinxes!”

Patton apologized as they kept up towards where the sound had come from. After several minutes, the group stopped abruptly behind Logan, who had somehow gotten to the front.

“There was someone else here,” Roman realized with a gasp.

“I am afraid so,” Logan agreed tersely, setting off much more quickly in a different direction.

Roman sighed; he had really been hoping that Virgil had just gotten lost, but Logan’s reaction had told him otherwise. 

They were dealing with someone from the Empire.

The group didn’t slow when rain began to fall, nor when the path became less of a path and more of an unavoidable cluster of tightly-knit trees. They only stopped when the trees and rain became so dense that it was impossible to see more than a foot in front of them.

“I lost them,” Logan growled, removing his glasses and glaring at the sky. He wiped his lenses, but it was no use; the falling rain immediately obscured his vision once again.

Roman stared into the downpour, hoping desperately that Virgil was smart enough to get away from the Duke. He took Logan’s hand and squeezed reassuringly

“Don’t worry, Lo, Everything’s going to be alright.”


	14. Chapter 8 (Virgil)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, Remus is a part of this chapter. There will be cursing and more blood, as well as a brief mention of a knife at the end of this chapter, because, well...Remus. Also mentions of cannibalistic squirrels.

A twig cracked nearby, snapping Virgil’s attention to the ground below. He held his breath, despite the precaution being pointless; he was still far up a tree and no one on the ground would be able to hear something as unobtrusive as breathing from that distance. 

“C’mere kitty kitty kitty. I know you’re around here somewhere,” the man below called in a singsong voice.

Something about that voice nagged at the back of Virgil’s mind; he shifted to get a better view of the man, but overestimated the width of the branch he was perched upon. 

Suddenly, there was nothing below him but air. 

Virgil flailed wildly for something to grab hold of, and, much too close to the ground for comfort, he succeeded in finding a handhold. By then, it was impossible for the man to not know of his presence. 

The stranger rushed over as Virgil gingerly lowered himself the last several feet to the ground.

“Nice! That was one hell of a fall! Oh, you’re bleeding.”

Virgil looked down to his right arm to find that he was, in fact, bleeding. One of the tree branches had caught him on the way down, tearing both fabric and skin. He also found that his shoulder was sore from when he had stopped his descent so rapidly.

“Can I do something? That looks ugly.”

“No thanks,” Virgil said uncomfortably before backing away and turning to go.

“Hey, wait!” The man frowned. “Where you headed?”

“Um…why should I tell you?”

There was no sense in letting a complete stranger alone in the forest know anything more about him; that was how people got murdered. Or it was a plot to a horror movie. Neither option seemed too pleasant to Virgil.

“‘Cause, uh, it’s really stupid to be injured and lost in a forest this early without anybody to protect you.”

“Protect me? You mean from people like you?”

The man only laughed, but it didn’t seem quite genuine.

“Okay. Bleed out, die. I don’t really care, just trying to be helpful. Bye!”

Virgil watched as the man headed off into the trees before setting off in a different direction, fairly certain that it was the right way to get back to town. He hadn’t realized how long he had been in that tree; dawn was approaching, the sky lightening ever so slightly by the minute. He trekked on, trying to ignore the throbbing of his arm and shoulder and the sting from the scratches he had sustained across most of his exposed skin.

After around fifteen minutes of wandering through unfamiliar trees, Virgil still hadn’t reached the edge of the forest. He probably should have asked for directions before he set out the night before, but with everything that had been happening, he had kind of forgotten that he hadn’t brought himself to the cabin. Not even his phone was of any use seeing as there was no signal that deep in the forest.

Virgil stopped moving, listening to the sounds around him. There was no indication of any roads or people nearby except for...was that a whistle? 

There it was again.

A jaunty tune was coming from the distance. Virgil approached warily, surprised to find the same man from earlier wandering the trees. He hadn’t noticed Virgil yet. 

“Excuse me…” Virgil began timidly.

“Oh! You’re back! You good?”

“I just…was wondering what you were doing exactly. You’ve been here a while.”

“Yup! I’m bored, so I’m doing a little exploring. Also looking for a cat, but he’s smart. He knows how to get back home so I’m probably gonna head back now. Wanna come?”

“Come where exactly?”

“I dunno. Town, I guess? Need help with your arm?”

Virgil shook his head. He wasn’t going to let a stranger touch his wound, even if he was getting a bit lightheaded. It wasn’t even bleeding anymore, but his blood loss from the previous night coupled with this made the impacts all that much worse.

“Right, cool.” The man set off in a different direction than Virgil had been traveling, smiling happily when Virgil followed him after a bit of hesitation. “Did you know that the average person can lose about fifteen percent of their blood without even really having any symptoms if done right? You can lose a higher percent of blood than you can water. That’s why dehydration is such an easy and effective method of torture.”

“Oh,” Virgil grimaced, regretting his decision to follow this man. “Interesting...”

The pair traveled on, the man giving out odd, grotesque, and worrying tidbits of information at random intervals.

“Here we go!” The man said as they made it to the edge of town. “Hey, you hear me? Looking a bit out of it, there.”

Virgil shook his head to clear it, worsening his slight dizziness. 

“Fine, thanks,” he ground out.

Not fine. He was tired, confused, and had lost more blood in the past twenty-four hours than was anywhere near healthy.

“Nope. Don’t look fine.” 

The man sat on the ground, pulling Virgil down with him.

“Sit for a bit. Get your bearings. Relax...tell me something about yourself.”

“If that’s your way of getting me to relax, it’s not going to help.”

“Fine then. Hi. I’m Ralph.”

“Ralph?”

“What, do you not like my name?” the man said, smiling a toothy grin.

“No! It’s just...I don’t know. You don’t seem like a Ralph to me.”

“No? Huh. Care to give me your name so I can insult you about it?”

“Tempting...but no thanks,” Virgil said with a guarded smile.

“Fine. Then I’ll have to think of something to call you for the next couple minutes-”

“Please don’t. I’m not looking to make friends here.”

“Not with that attitude, Kitten.”

“Kitten?”

“Fun fact: baby squirrels are called kits or kittens. You were in a tree and you’re jumpy. Second fun fact: squirrel comes from Greek and means something like ‘shadow tail.’ You seen your clothes, Emo? Third fun fact: North American Red Squirrels sometimes kill their own kind’s babies and eat them.”

“Are you saying I’m a murderer and a cannibal?”

“You could be,” the man said, almost vibrating.

“Why are you happy about that?” Virgil asked, edging away.

“Adventure.”

“No, I’m pretty sure that’s death.”

“Naw, I’m cleverer than that.”

“Cleverer isn’t a word.”

“You’re no fun,” the man pouted. “Hey, look at that!”

The man gestured up to the dark clouds that had taken over the already overcast sky. 

“Got someplace to go?” 

“Yeah.”  _ On the other side of town. _

“Cool. I’m gonna drive you.”

“No, you’re not,” Virgil protested, surprised. He certainly didn’t trust this man enough to get in a car with him. 

“Too bad. If I don’t, I’m going to be thinking about if you caught hypothermia or not all day.”

Usually, Virgil wasn’t terrible when it came to deciding what to think of a person. With this man, however, Virgil couldn’t quite decide. He seemed somewhat unstable, but friendly, and Virgil had the unexplained urge to accept that friendship. But, he did know that the man was making him increasingly uncomfortable as well.

“I’ll be fine,” Virgil insisted.

The clouds began to release their burden. It started as a soft rain but quickly grew to a downpour.

“Come on!” Ralph hollered, tugging Virgil to his feet.

Virgil hesitated, but he knew that he would be headed in that direction anyway to get across town.

The rain was coming down harder even still; by now, Virgil could barely even see where he was going, but the firm hand around his wrist kept pulling him forward.

“Get in!” Virgil could make out. 

They had stopped in front of a car painted what seemed to be a disgusting shade of yellowish-green. Virgil tried to pull his wrist, but the hand around it tightened, sending a shock of panic through Virgil.

“Let me go!” Virgil shouted, to no avail.

If anything, the grip only tightened further, becoming painful.

Virgil swung his free hand towards the man’s face, making contact.

“Shit! Quit that and get in the damn car!”

The man wrenched open the door, attempting to shove Virgil in. Virgil, however, wasn’t having any of it. He swung his fist again, only to have it caught in the man’s other hand. He prepared to kick, but before he could manage a well-aimed one, he found the hands around his wrists releasing, sending Virgil crashing into the mud outside the car. He attempted to scramble to his feet, but the feeling of cold, wet metal against the side of his neck made Virgil cease all movement.

“In,” a voice growled into his ear.

Virgil complied.


	15. Chapter 9 (Roman)

“Shit!”

“Remy, kiddo, let’s not-”

“You know what, Patton? I can say whatever the hell I want! My damn brother’s got himself kidnapped again and I can’t find him and I couldn’t do anything to stop it!”

“Remy...that’s not your fault. Or Virgil’s for that matter. You were out there for almost an hour in the rain, and you’re probably going to catch a cold for it, but it would have been pointless to keep going in that kind of weather. We are all drenched to the bone, and I think some warmth will do us all good,” Roman said.

He really hoped Remy would listen so that they could take a moment to think and consider their options properly.

“I’m not-”

“Remy, there is nothing more we can do until we pause our erratic search and think of an adequate next move,” Logan said, drying his glasses and placing them back atop his nose. “I know that you are worried, but by now, whether with the Duke or not, there is a high possibility that Virgil has vacated the forest. We must reevaluate the situation.”

“...fine.”

“Thank you, kiddo. I’ll get us some refreshments. You three head to the living room and get warmed up. Oh, and shoes off please!”

Patton started off to the kitchen while Logan led the rest of the party to the living room, Remy in the middle and Roman trailing behind. Roman eyed the man in front of him with a frown. 

He felt horrible that he was the source of Remy’s pain. Remy had already lost his brother to the Empire once, and this time, Roman could have prevented it. At least, that was what it felt like. In actuality, he didn’t know what he could have done to prevent Virgil from leaving when he was so clearly overwhelmed and in need of some time alone to think.

“Remy, I want to assure you that I will do everything in my power to find Virgil.”

“All of us want to help, Remy,” Roman added. “We just need to figure out a better way to go about things. Let’s just go over what we know so far, okay?”

“What we know? Okay. My idiot brother is, like, missing because a crazed lunatic from his past known to enjoy his victim’s pain has hurt and abducted him.”

“All of which is speculation,” Logan said. “There is no proof that is what occurred.”

“Exactly, Remy. He could have just slipped climbing out of the tree. Then, he could have found his way home and he may be there now, safe.”

“So, what, we go to my place and inevitably don’t find him? What then?”

“Then we will reevaluate once again. Is there any other location he frequents or deems a place of safety?”

“My boyfriend’s place maybe.”

“Very well. Patton?”

Patton poked his head into the room.

“Yep, Lo?”

“Perhaps it would be best if you remain here in case Virgil returns.”

Patton gave a quick nod before disappearing down the hall again.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Remy strode out of the room towards the front door. Roman and Logan exchanged a look; Roman knew that Remy wanted to find Virgil, but the man was going to wear himself down before they made any substantial progress.

Roman followed Logan to the door, which Patton was already at, pressing a hot cup of coffee into Remy’s hands. Only once they were all laden with hot drinks did Patton bade them goodbye.

“Remy, how did you arrive here this morning?”

“Oh, yeah, we probably want to drive.”

“Where exactly did you park?” Roman asked, confused.

He supposed that it was something of a long walk now that Logan had mentioned it, but he had yet to see a car parked in the vicinity.

“Oh, it’s a ways down the road. I guess we oughta run for it if we don’t want to get, like, completely soaked again.”

Roman didn’t mention the fact that they had barely dried from their last encounter with the rain.

The three took off down the muddy road, following Remy to a small black car parked just off the road, out of sight unless you knew what you were looking for.

Once the three were protected from the rain, they paused to catch their breath and ring out some of the excess water. 

Remy drove in silence to an apartment complex across town.

“Y’all can stay in the car. I’ll just run in and check real quick.”

Remy left the car, quickly shutting his door and dashing to the door.

“Roman, he is not there. I think we both know that.”

Roman took his friend’s hand with a frown.

“I know that look, Lo. That’s the something’s-wrong-so-I-won’t-rest-until-I-fix-it-even-if-it’s-detrimental-to-my-health look. Please don’t do something stupid. We’re going to figure this out and get Virgil out of this mess, but I need to know what you’re thinking to do that.”

“Remus already has him. They are most likely already on their way to headquarters. That means-”

Roman cut Logan off with a hug. Logan startled, before letting his own arms encompass Roman.

“I know that you have bad memories of them and I know that being thrown back into this mess is really difficult for you, Logan. You don’t have to pretend to be fine.”

Logan pulled away.

“Very well. I am not ‘fine.’ I hurt people, Roman. I hurt you, and even if I did not intend it, I have harmed Virgil and Remy as well. I need to make things right.”

“And we will. Together. You aren’t alone anymore, Specs.”

Logan gave Roman a sad smile, and Roman knew he hadn’t gotten through. 

Logan had never gotten over his guilt of what he had done while a part of the Empire. While he was incredibly intelligent and could understand most concepts with little difficulty, emotions had always stumped him, both those of others and his own. He didn’t know how to process or express them, so he usually kept them shoved down as far as they could go.

“Logan-”

“Remy is back.”

And he was. The next moment, the car door opened and Remy slid into his seat. The man had an odd expression on his face.

“Remy?” Roman asked as the man shifted into reverse and pulled out of his parking spot.

“His phone wasn’t there.”

“Is that...good or bad?”

“Means he has it. I don’t know what good it’ll be if he’s been caught, but we can call him. We’re going to my boyfriend’s.”

Five minutes later, they were parked in front of a small one-story house painted a pale pink.

“C’mon!”

All three ran to the porch and waited for Remy to fumble with his keychain and insert the correct key. He ushered them inside and closed the door on the rain. Inside was a small room with a tan couch on one side and a small TV on the other. Moving boxes were stacked haphazardly around the room. A colorful rug sat in the middle of the room, and shelves separating the living room and dining table were filled with stuffed animals and action figures.

Remy disappeared into the next room. He came back dragging a confused looking man dressed in a onesie of some sort of animal-looking creature behind him.

“Remy?”

“Meet Roman and Logan. You two, this is Emile. Em, do you remember that pointless project you started with Vee?”

Emile scanned the occupants of the room slowly before rubbing at his eyes under his glasses. 

“Remy, baby, slow down. Take a couple deep breaths. Can I at least get dressed before you try to explain...whatever it is that’s going on?”

Remy rolled his eyes but gestured in the way they had come from, which Emile took as permission.

“What species was his costume intended to be?” Logan asked, thoroughly confused.

“Oh, it’s from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I don’t know what it’s, like-”

“Appa!” Emile hollered from wherever he had gone.

“It’s Appa, I guess,” Remy said with another fond eye roll.

Emile came skipping back into the room after a moment, now dressed in jeans and a pastel rainbow hoodie.

“None of my projects are pointless, Remy,” he said, handing out towels to the three of them.

“‘Course not, babe.”

“Which one then? We’ve started all kinds of projects.”

“The cartoon one.”

Emile giggled.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a bit more specific. If this is about letting you two watch all of my favorite cartoons, that isn’t going to stop.”

“More like forcing, but no. The code thing.”

“Oh?”

“Call Vee. My phone’s still broke.”

Emile was immediately at Remy’s side.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Remy glared at thin air, and Emile took Remy’s silence as a cue to fish his phone from his pocket. He led his guests to his dining table.

Emile found Virgil’s contact and called, putting it on speaker. It rang and rang and rang, before dropping off to voicemail. 

“I’ll call again, Rem.”

And he did. This time Virgil picked up after two rings. 

“Do you how do, Virgil?”

Roman could tell how hard it was for Emile to force himself to stay calm. 

“Fine, Emi. I’m fine. What’s up? Are you with Remy?”

Roman let out a silent breath of relief. He watched Remy sit up, some of the fear melting off his face. Emile looked relieved as well. 

“Yeah, I’m…” 

Emile stopped, confused, and cast a glance at Logan. His brow furrowed, but he shook it off after a second.

_ The less the Duke knows of our current situation and knowledge, the more of an advantage we have over him.  _

Roman jumped. He knew that Logan could communicate with a person through their mind alone, but it was unnerving to hear the familiar voice without the man’s lips moving and no one else knowing what he said.

“...um, I’m glad you’re doing well. Remy’s not here yet, no, but I’m meeting with him later. I wanted to see if you could come over tonight too! We can watch some more Steven Universe!”

“We were on the fifth season, right Emi? Episode 28?”

Emile tried to stifle his gasp. He turned to Remy for confirmation as he mouthed  _ In trouble. Captured? _

Remy nodded solemnly.

Roman and Logan met each other’s gaze, sharing a confused look. Neither understood how Emile could have figured that out from the interactions with Virgil so far.

“N-no, silly,” Emile winced at his stutter. “I was just talking about that one last time. I said you would like it when we got there, just like episode 20.”

“Right. It was 17, then, right?”

“I think you’re right. I’ll see you tonight then, Vee. Remy will be here soon, and he might be inviting some new friends.”

“And Emi?”

“Yes?”

“A repeat of last month is probably going to happen. Can you deal with it again? I’d rather hide in your bathroom again than explain that to Remy.”

“I’ll try.”

“Thank you. Bye, Emi.”

Virgil hung up.

Emile put down his phone with a sigh.

“Remy, I need you to talk to me. What happened?”

“What did he say?”

Emile scooted his chair closer to his boyfriend and grabbed his hand.

“He’s alright. Stuck, but alright. He’s not hurt, though.”

“There was blood!” Remy protested.

“Yes, but it seemed a lot worse than it actually is. That’s usually how things are,” Emile said with a small smile as he reached out his hand to lift Remy’s chin until their eyes met.

“I need to find him.”

“You will,” Emile assured.

“ _ We _ will,” Roman corrected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The code during the phone call will be explained in the next chapter. Until then, does anyone have any ideas about it?


	16. Chapter 9 (Virgil)

“What are you going to do to me?” Virgil asked, forcing his voice to stay even.

The strange man who had introduced himself as ‘Ralph’ was sitting in the driver’s seat. He had just finished handcuffing Virgil to the passenger assist grip above the window and gently pulling the torn fabric of his hoodie away from his gash, covering the wound with gauze. The chain between his cuffs was long enough that Virgil could sit in the passenger seat and almost just rest his hands in his lap. 

The man began to dry himself with a towel he had pulled from who-knows-where. He regarded the interior of his car with a frown; Virgil’s side was very wet and muddy, though the driver’s side sported its own fair share of water as well, especially the seat.

“I’m gonna make you dry off,” the man replied, tossing the towel at Virgil. “Dry off the car too if you get the chance, or DeeDee’s gonna murder me for ruining another car, not that he really has a say ‘bout this one. This baby’s mine! Still, I’d rather him not think I tried to drive across another pond.”

“Who are you?” Virgil asked, pulling the towel from where it had draped over part of his head. He was fairly certain he already knew, but he really, really wanted to be wrong.

“You...huh.”

The man shifted into drive and started up the window wipers as quickly as they would go.

“...you’re gonna have to gimme a minute. Or a good couple.”

They drove through town without a word; Virgil would have tried to draw attention to his predicament, but few seemed to want to brave the storm save those hurrying to work down the opposite side of the road, and Virgil doubted that anyone would be able to see through the side windows anyway. He did, however, attempt to use the shadows around him as means of escape, but it was no use; he recognized the cuffs encircling his wrists which had special properties intended to mute the abilities of people like him.

After about forty-five minutes of listening to nothing but the blaring radio and the sound of rain, they had crossed through town and pulled over somewhere a ways outside of town that Virgil didn’t recognize.

“‘Kay, sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t wanna get caught or anything,” the man said, reaching up to shut off the music with a grin that quickly faded. 

He turned so that he was sitting sideways in his seat, facing Virgil. Remus studied him, reaching a tentative hand out to Virgil’s hoodie-clad arm, but must have thought better of it as Virgil edged away as far away as he could. 

Remus pulled away.

“You really don’t recognize me, Anxie? DeeDee said your memories would be all wack, but seriously? I’d like to think that I’m particularly hard to forget.”

“You’re the Duke.”

“That’s way too formal, don’t you think? C’mon, Anxie-”

“Why were you even in the forest? You don’t have a cat.”

“Doesn’t change the fact I was looking for my Kitten. DeeDee said it would be pointless, but I found you! I’ve worked my ass off to find a trace, but I got you! I’ve missed you, Kitten. DeeDee has too, even though he won’t admit-”

Virgil spat in the Duke’s face. He tried to pull at the shadows again to no avail.

“Let me go, Remus.”

The man in question just grinned at Virgil’s resistance.

“Got some fire, huh Kitty Cat? ‘Fraid I can’t, though. We’re going home!”

“My home will never be with you, Remus. Let. Me. Go.” 

Virgil punctuated each word with a sharp tug to the handcuffs, but he only succeeded in making his wrists ache more. 

“Hey, stop that! You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

Virgil pulled harder.

“I’ll knock you out.”

Virgil seemed to ignore him, still struggling in his bonds, but he kept Remus in the corner of his vision. He watched as Remus reached into the back of the car, balancing precariously on the center console. Once sure that Remus was preoccupied with finding whatever it was he was trying to find, Virgil shoved himself against the man, knocking him into the back on top of whatever he had been reaching for. He grinned at the man’s startled cry.

He was probably going to pay for it, but Virgil couldn’t find it in himself to care all that much. He was going to do everything he could to make life for his captor miserable.

The grin melted off of Virgil’s face as he felt arms reach around his headrest and grip his throat tightly.

“Do you  _ want _ to die, you little shit?”

Virgil froze. While he knew that it wouldn’t be in the Duke’s best interests to kill him after all the trouble he went to to find him, he also knew that the man was volatile and unpredictable.

“That’s what I thought. Now, we  _ were _ gonna have a little fun before we got back, but-”

Remus was cut off by a ringing from Virgil’s left hoodie pocket.

The hands retracted from around Virgil’s neck, instead grabbing at his hoodie. Virgil tried to stop him, but since his arms couldn’t reach that far because of the chain, he couldn’t put up much of a fight.

Remus was crouching behind Virgil’s seat now. One arm had snaked back around his throat and the other held Virgil’s phone.

“Who’s ‘Remy’s Idiot Cartoon Lover’?”

The question was accompanied by a slight tightening of the hand on his throat.

“A...friend. He’ll keep calling until you answer.”

“I can just shut off your phone.”

“Then he’ll call the police. And anyone who has ever cared for my well being.”

Remus considered Virgil for a moment.

“Can you convince him everything’s fine?”

“Yes.”

The ringing stopped, only to start up again a moment later. 

“You tell him anything about me or this and you’re so dead, Anxie.”

Remus answered the call and put it on speaker.

“Do you how do, Virgil?”

“Fine, Emi. I’m fine. What’s up? Are you with Remy?” Virgil tried to keep his voice light and conversational.

“Yeah, I’m...um, I’m glad you’re doing well. Remy’s not here yet, no, but I’m meeting with him later. I wanted to see if you could come over tonight too! We can watch some more Steven Universe!”

Virgil had never been more thankful for Emile’s obsession with cartoons. Virgil had only agreed to watch some of Emile’s favorite cartoons if there was some sort of purpose behind it. Remy had joked that with all the episodes there were, they could probably make some sort of code from it. So they did. None of them had ever thought it would be used, but it had been fun. Who would have thought it would actually come in handy?

“We were on the fifth season, right Emi? Episode 28?”

Virgil had memorized what happened in each of the 129 episodes and their corresponding names. In the twenty-eighth episode of the fifth season, several of the characters were trapped. Even though they tried to stick to title names to communicate, Virgil knew Emile had understood by his little stifled gasp.

“N-no, silly. I was just talking about that one last time. I said you would like it when we got there, just like episode 20.”

_ What’s Your Problem? _

“Right. It was 17, then, right?”

_ Can’t Go Back. _

Technically there were two meanings to that one, but either would get his point across well enough. He physically couldn’t go back home. He also really didn’t want to go back to the Empire.

“I think you’re right. I’ll see you tonight then, Vee. Remy will be here soon, and he might be inviting some new friends.”

“And Emi?”

“Yes?”

“A repeat of last month is probably going to happen. Can you deal with it again? I’d rather hide in your bathroom again than explain that to Remy.”

It wasn’t technically part of the code, but last month Virgil had gotten a cut on his foot. It may have bled a lot, but that was only because of its location. Emile had shut Virgil in his bathroom with his foot propped up while he tried to convince Remy that Virgil was in fact fine despite the blood accidentally tracked across the house.

If Remy had any idea that Virgil had gotten hurt in the forest, which he somehow always found out, he would start panicking, and Virgil really didn’t want that at the moment.

“I’ll try.”

“Thank you. Bye, Emi.”

Remus hung up the phone quickly, crawling back up into the driver’s seat, and Virgil let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding. 

“What was that?”

“What did you want me to tell him? I wouldn’t be over tonight because I’ve been abducted?”

“What were all those numbers? What happened last month?” Remus accused, starting up the car.

“Emile likes cartoons. We’re at episode 17 of season five.”

“And last month?”

They were on the road again.

“I was late to movie night last month and my brother was panicking. I’d rather not worry him until absolutely necessary.”

It wasn’t  _ completely _ a lie.

“Your brother?”

“Yes.”

Virgil turned towards the window, watching the rain trace paths down the window.

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Remus said, more reserved than Virgil had heard him speak yet.

Virgil stayed silently staring out the window.

“DeeDee said your family was dead,” Remus pressed.

“My parents are. Deceit’s the reason.”

“That’s...you’re lying,” Remus said with a laugh. “Why would he do that, Kitty Cat? I know you’re angry, but now you’re just being silly.”

“What, you thought your boss was this perfect angel?”

“He’s not my boss,” Remus growled darkly, and oh yes, Virgil had struck a nerve.

Remus, Virgil remembered, had only agreed to join their small group after Janus had assured him that all three of them would be treated as though equal in power and authority, despite the fact that Janus was already high-ranking in the organization at that point.

Remus despised anyone who had the upper hand against him and would fight them even if he had no chance of winning.

“Then why are you here doing his dirty work?”

“I’m not! He told me  _ not _ to come. He said it was pointless, that I wouldn’t be able to find you and it was a waste of time. He didn’t even mean to tell me you were in danger.”

“And you took that as a challenge. You did end up tracking me down. You’re doing exactly what he wanted all along.”

“Shut up.”

“I guess I wasn’t the only one he was using,” Virgil said before he could stop himself.

“I said shut up, traitor!” Remus shouted, flicking a hand angrily in Virgil’s direction. 

A roll of duct tape appeared out of thin air. Virgil watched as a piece tore itself off and pressed against his mouth, ending the conversation.

Virgil really hated Remus’s power of materialization sometimes.

  
  



	17. Chapter 10 (Virgil)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know, this is another chapter from Virgil's POV. Enjoy!

It had been over an hour since Remus had silenced Virgil. Remus hadn’t spoken a word, which was almost worrying. Virgil couldn’t tell what the man was thinking, but he hoped he had made Remus at least consider the chance that Janus wasn’t all he thought him to be. 

Virgil had determined a while ago that he was in no immediate danger, so he had attempted to sleep to communicate with Remy. If he remembered correctly, they were still over an hour from the Empire’s headquarters, so he had plenty of time if he could just manage to  _ fall asleep _ . 

It shouldn’t have been hard; the car’s gentle vibrating underneath him paired with the white noise the rain outside was providing was calming. If Virgil could stop worrying about his brother and his friends, it would have been perfect.

Eventually, though, the lull of the car engine and rain tugged Virgil from consciousness. 

He opened his eyes to find himself lying in a small bed, wrapped in soft, comforting blankets. He sat up, struggling to unravel himself from his fuzzy cocoon. 

“Virgil?”

Virgil choked out a laugh that quickly escalated to sobs. Virgil tried to stop the tears, but he had been suppressing his overwhelming fear and anger towards Remus for too long.

“Shh, none of that. Don’t worry babe, I got you.”

Virgil let his brother untangle the blanket still wrapped around him. 

“Hey, what’s wrong.”

“I-I m-messed up,” Virgil choked out. “Y-you were right. I wasn’t ready. I never should have left or told you to leave or yelled or-” Virgil gasped in a breath. “I got caught up w-with the Empire all over again. I’m so  _ stupid _ !”

Virgil felt gentle fingers wipe the tears from his cheeks.

“This isn’t your fault, babe.”

Virgil pulled back, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, Rem. I needed to tell you incase-”

“Huh-uh. I’ll see you again, soon, m‘kay? Until then, are you okay? Did they hurt you? Knock you out?”

Virgil took a couple of deep breaths.

“No, I’m f-fine. Car ride was long and I knew if I fell asleep I could talk to you.”

“Smart kid. They haven’t hurt you, though? There was blood in the forest.”

“Haven’t you talked to Emi? I...figured you were there.”

Remy cracked a smile.

“You figured right. You really thought referencing a time when the house looked like a scene from  _ Evil Dead _ would make me feel better?”

Virgil pouted, but the pout was most definitely a childish one, not an about-to-start-crying one.

“There wasn’t even that much blood. You acted like I was dying! I’m not a porcelain doll, Remy.”

Remy let out a sigh.

“I know. I think we’ve got a long conversation ahead of us when all this is over. But, it isn’t over yet. Right now I need to know what’s going on. Do you know what their plans are? Logan said you’d be headed to the Empire’s headquarters.”

Virgil just stared at his brother, the corners of his lips tilting upwards. Remy had just called Logan by his name, not Logic, and he seemed perfectly comfortable doing it. At least he didn’t have to worry about that as well.

“What?”

“You called him Logan.”

“Your point?”

“No, no, nevermind.” Best not to bring attention to it. “Yeah, we’re headed to headquarters. If there  _ is _ a plan after that I doubt Remus even knows it. I’ve been trying to get out of the handcuffs so I can use my powers and get out of here, but I can’t pick them and they’re too tight to slip out of. Even if I did open the door, I wouldn’t be able to jump. Windows are locked and tinted, and I can’t reach the steering wheel to get us off the road. Remus has been ignoring me for the past hour or so because I pissed him off. We’ve still got about an hour drive. What are you doing?”

“Headed your way. Emile’s driving and your three vamps are in the back.”

Virgil tensed.

“Something wrong?”

“They shouldn’t come, Remy. They could die!”

“Well, that’s their decision. All of them wanted to come, babe.”

“Remy, they don't need to be dragged into my mess. Emile doesn’t either. Neither do you, but nothing I say would convince you of that.”

“Them either. Emi literally stole my keys and got in the driver’s seat. There wasn’t much I could do. We were already too far behind you.”

“What if they get hurt? It’ll be all my fault. I shouldn’t even  _ need _ help.”

“Hey….what’s up?”

Virgil had looked around himself, closing his eyes to focus.

“I...I think we’re stopping. Remy!” Virgil watched as the room around him started to fade. “I’m waking up!”

“It’s okay, babe. You’ll be okay. We’re coming…”

Virgil sat up quickly, smacking his head against something hard. He blinked a couple of times before he could fully process what was going on. Remus was sitting sideways in his seat again, rubbing at his head. He had been leaning over Virgil, shaking him awake. 

“You’ve got a damn thick skull, you know?”

Virgil flinched back when Remus leaned towards him again. The man reached for the corner of the duct tape covering Virgil’s mouth and pulled, earning a glare from Virgil.

“I got bored,” Remus admitted after getting back onto the highway from the rest station. “Have a nice nap?”

Virgil just glared again, rubbing at his stinging mouth and covertly brushing away the last of his tears at the same time. He thought about what his brother had said. While he really didn’t want anyone put in danger because of his mistakes, he couldn’t deny that it did make him feel better that Remy was coming to help him despite his screw-ups and the fact that he had turned Remy away before.

“Quick question, is Emile your brother?”

That...wasn’t what Virgil had been expecting.

“C’mon. Like old times. I ask a question, you ask a question. Is he?”

“...no.”

Remus gave a pout.

“Alrighty then, your turn.”

“What happened that night with the werewolf in the alley by the bar.”

Virgil didn’t know when exactly it had happened, but he realized that he remembered most everything. There were still a couple blank spots from when he met Logan, Patton, and Roman and after, but that was a time that he realized he hadn’t even known what had happened when he was with them the first time. Deceit had explained things in that vague way of his, but he didn’t know the exact events, and he was sure that there was more than what Deceit had told him.

Remus was staring straight ahead, hands clenched tightly around the steering wheel. 

“Deceit said there was a fight and I was injured. I told you to leave and you two took the werewolf with you. When you got back, I was gone.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I don’t think I ever have. It’s just kind of...blank.”

Remus grimaced.

“I answered your question,” Virgil reminded him.

“You have to swear you won’t hate me...more than you already do anyway.”

“Okay?” Virgil agreed suspiciously.

“What’s the last part you remember?”

“We were trailing the werewolf and cornered him in an alley a little ways from the bar he was at.”

Remus cursed under his breath.

“What?”

“Um, so, we were in the alley and it,” Virgil frowned at the word choice. “Right, uh,  _ he _ was cornered and I had my morningstar and you grabbed hold of me so I couldn’t hit him. You said that we were wrong to do what we do and said we were horrible people and you couldn’t trust either of us anymore. You were so angry, especially at DeeDee, and you wouldn’t shut up. You were going to attract attention, so I just kind of shoved you at the werewolf. 

“It... _ he _ was kind of out of it ‘cause of DeeDee’s influence, but he must have thought you were about to attack him or something because he jumped on top of you and went almost feral. I tried to drag him off you, but he was clawing at you. It was full moon, so he was turning, you know, and it happened real quick and he clawed at you and I couldn’t get him off without hurting you worse. 

“DeeDee worked his magic and got the thing to let go. I bandaged up your leg, at least got the bleeding to stop, but the werewolf was still struggling and DeeDee said we oughta get him restrained properly and that we’d be right back for you, but when we came back, you were gone.”

“ _ I _ was the one fighting you,” Virgil realized. “When he said there was a fight, I assumed...wait, why would I hate you because of all of that?”

“I almost killed you.”

“You weren’t intending to.”

“You got kidnapped by vampires because of it.”

“They weren’t that bad.”

“You were terrified!”

“I’m always terrified, and I think I was more confused than anything.”

Remus frowned.

“You don’t seem terrified now.”

“Maybe I’m just a good actor,” Virgil gave a rueful grin thinking of how he had just broken down with his brother.

“You seem less scared, though. In general, you know? Less tense, too. Even though, you know...” Remus gestured awkwardly around the car with one hand.

Virgil’s gaze flickered to him in surprise.

“Aren’t I supposed to literally be Anxiety?”

“I don’t know. You’re different now. I kind of like it. More fun to tease, I’d imagine.”

“Remus?”

Remus hummed in acknowledgment.

“...what happens after you take me to Deceit?”

Remus stared at the road for a minute or two, joking manner gone.

“I honestly don’t know.”


	18. Chapter 11 (Roman)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I kind of messed up my order for chapters…
> 
> This one is a little bit of Roman’s perspective of what took place in the last chapter, but with new stuff as well. Also, it’s pretty long because I couldn’t find a good way to split it up so...enjoy!

“Emile, you can still head home. All of you should, really.”

“Not a chance, baby. You’re stuck with me.”

“Yes, Remy. It would be quite illogical for us to turn back at this point. We have been on the road for over an hour.”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“We’re not stopping, Remy,” Roman gave the man a reassuring smile from the back seat. “We all want to help you.”

Roman watched the man slump back against his seat.

“Fine.”

Roman zoned out as Emile started discussing the plot of yet another cartoon. Roman had learned a lot about Remy, Virgil, and Emile himself, as well as just about every cartoon in existence in the duration of the trip. He gripped Logan and Patton’s hands tighter. Logan had been lost in thought staring out the window for a majority of the trip while Patton had been trying to keep up a conversation with Emile. Remy had answered Emile’s questions every once in a while, but for the most part, he remained quiet.

Roman looked over to Patton, who had just elbowed him. He was nodding towards Remy, who had sat straight up in his seat.

“Baby?”

But Remy didn’t hear his boyfriend. The man had closed his eyes and seemed to be mouthing words. Roman had never been all that adept at reading lips, but he was sure he caught “Virgil” at least once.

Even Logan tore his gaze from the window, frowning at the two in the front of the car.

“Pull over at the next chance, Emile,” Logan commanded.

Emile confusedly did as Logan asked. They pulled off the highway at the next exit several miles later, rolling into a gas station.

“I suggest you take care of anything that needs taken care of now, as we still have a long trip ahead of us. Roman, would you purchase two bottles of water for me?”

Roman headed inside and did as Logan asked. By the time he returned to the car with Patton about fifteen minutes later, Emile was already back. He and Logan were gathered around Remy’s open car door. Logan held out a waiting hand towards Roman, and Roman tossed one of the bottles of water to him.

Logan handed the bottle to Remy, who gladly took it; he had come out of whatever trance-like state he had been in.

“Very well. Remy, you may begin.

The man took another gulp of water before clearing his throat.

“Virgil fell asleep. Poor kid’s exhausted and, like, completely terrified, but other than that, he’s fine, if not nearing boredom. Logan...oh.  _ Oh _ . I called you  _ Logan _ .” 

Remy ignored the confused glances he was receiving. 

“Anyway, you were right, they’re headed to headquarters and Deceit. He can’t get away or use his powers. He didn’t want any of you to come, like I’ve been  _ saying _ . That was about it. He doesn’t know much of, like, whatever plan there is and even if he did, the Duke didn’t let him sleep long.  Also, sorry if I scared you back there. I wasn’t expecting him to fall asleep of all things and he went, like, subconsciously looking for me and I didn’t wanna lose him.”

They all reassured Remy that it was fine.

“Right, well, I’ma go get some coffee,” Remy said, getting up and heading towards the convenience store.”

Emile headed towards the driver’s seat but was stopped by Logan.

“I believe it would be better if I drove the next portion.”

Emile didn’t put up much of a fight before slipping into the backseat. Roman and Patton filed back into the back, Roman claiming the window seat this time.

The next hour and a half was fairly uneventful, though the car was certainly traveling a bit faster this time so they made much better time. Where Emile had been content to follow the speed limit to a tee, Logan took it as a mere suggestion, which greatly surprised Roman seeing as Logan tended to adore the rules. Roman honestly hadn’t even known Logan knew how to drive. He had just never really considered it after constantly ribbing the older about how little he knew about modern culture.

Logan had explained how Deceit was planning to manipulate Virgil’s mind once again before they set off. He had laid out the dangers they were all likely to face if they continued and like Remy, he had suggested they stay behind and wait for him and Remy to return. None decided to. Then, Emile had suggested car games to ease the tension that had arisen, which Roman and Patton quickly agreed to. They eventually convinced Remy to play as well to keep him from worrying, but Logan stayed firm in his denial of the offer.

Currently, they were attempting to find every letter of the alphabet in order.

“Is that a U on that license plate?” Emile asked, squinting out the window. 

It had stopped raining heavily a while ago, but the sky was still very overcast and small droplets still fell, though the intensity was much less than it had been.

“Yes! Oh darn, we’re on the hard letters now.”

“Huh, V. Oh, Virgil,” Emile said as his phone began to play the theme song of Steven Universe.

“What?” Remy demanded, turning in his seat to face Emile.

Emile handed off his phone to Remy, who quickly answered it and put it on speakerphone.

“Vee?” Remy asked hopefully.

“Where are you, Remy?”

Virgil’s breath was coming quickly and he sounded positively terrified.

“Logan took the wheel a while back, and he knows how to go over the speed limit, unlike Emi. We’re, like, a couple minutes from the city.”

Emile gave a soft “Hey!” but it seemed to just be in habit because he looked far too concerned to actually care.

“We’re blocks away. We’re getting gas. I can’t break the chains or the grip or pick the locks or-”

“Hey! Give me that phone!”

Roman recognized the voice as the Duke’s. He could feel Patton tense beside him. Roman took his hand gently, still intent on the conversation. There was rustling, but the connection didn’t cut out. Roman heard a door close and a car start up.

“Remy, we’re driving! What do I do?”

“Please allow Remus to hear me, Virgil,” Logan instructed, voice slightly raised yet still the epitome of calm. He was slowing now as they took the next exit.

Remy took the cue and moved the phone closer to Logan.

“Okay, Logan,” Virgil announced quietly, voice shaking.

“Remus, I ask that you calm yourself. I doubt Deceit would appreciate you killing your charge in a car accident.”

Remy clenched Emile’s phone tighter at the implication that Virgil’s life was in danger but otherwise remained outwardly calm.

There was a growl on the other end that certainly wasn’t Virgil.

“Why did you get gas, Remus,” Logan questioned, scanning the road he had taken. 

Roman watched as they passed a museum and got onto a street littered with smaller shops, still moving a bit faster than strictly legal.

A squeak made it through the phone that Roman thought was much more likely to be Virgil.

“‘Cause the tank was almost empty, old man. Quit psychoanalyzing me.”

Logan didn’t answer for a moment, instead opting to turn onto a less busy road. There was a stoplight the next road down that turned red on their end.

“Turn right.”

A car at the stoplight turned right and sped off down the road and Roman understood where they were at the Duke’s cursing.

“Fuck you, Logi-.”

“Logan, please,” Logan corrected. “Continue.”

Logan sped up after the car.

“I want to strangle you.” 

“Yes, I imagine you do,” Logan said in his usual bored tone. “Virgil, how are you doing.”

“...huh?”

“I have learned that you must not panic or react around Remus as it only feeds into his antics.”

“H-how did-“ Virgil stuttered out.

“A moment. Remus, where exactly are you headed as of now?”

“Wherever I want, genius. Figure it out.”

“Are you being sarcastic or do you wish for me to uncover your whereabouts?”

Roman winced as the car up ahead swerved over sidewalk and just barely sped up quickly enough to not get hit by a semi-truck seeing as the speed limit was higher on that road.

“Remus!” Virgil cried out before the call abruptly ended.

“Do not redial. He should direct most of his focus on holding on to something. I highly doubt Remus has seat belts in his car. Also, I suggest you four find handholds as well.”

To Roman’s horror, Logan made something of the same turn the Duke just had, only just avoiding the sidewalk and ignoring the stoplight. Patton grabbed onto Roman as Roman secured his hands on the handle on the car door and the grip above him. Emile and Remy did the same.

Logan ground his foot into the gas pedal, weaving in between cars before taking another wild turn.

“Ah, I see,” he muttered to himself, a soft smile gracing his lips.

He sped up even further, trying to beat the red light; however, he did not succeed. Roman clenched his eyes shut as Logan showed no sign of stopping. When he pried his eyes open, they were still speeding along, no worse for wear. Logan made another turn towards the highway, narrowly avoiding getting hit, and that time Roman definitely caught a smile on Logan’s face.

By the time they made it on the highway, Logan was pushing 95 miles per hour, which wasn’t that much higher than what he had been driving in the city. Roman suspected it was more of the fact that the car couldn’t go much faster than Logan not wanting to.

“That was far too easy,” Logan admitted as he weaved through cars.

Roman wanted to ask how  _ that _ had been easy, but he really didn’t want to distract the driver at the moment. Once he thought about it though, he did briefly worry for the safety of the city if no one had come after them, and the fact that Logan agreed with him made his fear spike even higher.

Logan swerved again, this time eliciting a scream from all of his passengers as he turned into oncoming traffic and drove straight off the road towards a group of trees after the Duke’s car.

He  _ finally _ slowed to a stop on the opposite side of a little clearing next to an abandoned house and got out of the car.

Roman looked across the clearing to find the Duke waving at Logan, Virgil nowhere in sight.

“He’s behind us,” Remy mumbled, still registering what had just happened. He pushed open his door to reunite with his brother.

Roman and the rest in the back seat took a little bit longer to get their bearings, but they edged out of the car shortly after.

“You, my, but...car!” Patton choked out, sitting on the ground a little ways from the car.

“It has sustained no damage. Nor have you.”

“Logan!” Patton screeched but quickly cut off the rant he had planned when Virgil crossed the clearing angrily. 

Virgil leapt at the Duke, sending both of them crashing to the ground. The Duke got back to his feet, one hand on his head where it had hit the ground. He pulled a disgruntled looking Virgil up with him, but Virgil yanked his hand from the Duke’s grip. They had something of an argument that Roman couldn’t quite make out before Virgil punched the Duke, three times in the stomach and once in the jaw. He pulled back after the last one and Logan crossed over to the two.

Roman stood from his place next to Patton and Emile to stop Remy from following, but he was unsuccessful. Roman considered following but decided against it. He sat back down.

“I never want to do that again,” Patton admitted, still looking a touch ill.

Roman let Patton lean against him for comfort, weaving a hand through his hair. He had never explained why, but Patton had always had something of an aversion to cars. He had opted to ride a bike or walk before getting turned, and he didn’t have much of a need to use a separate mode of transportation after.

Roman watched as Virgil moved over to Logan, ignoring the two now having a staring match behind him. Roman wasn’t sure what he had expected when he had agreed to come along to support his friend, but things were going far smoother than he had anticipated.

He should have known better than to think something like that; he had gotten after Patton earlier that day for the same thing.

Roman watched as Emile's eyes widened, focusing on something behind him. Roman turned just in time to see a tall man stride from the trees.


	19. Chapter 11 (Virgil)

Virgil stared out the window at the city he had spent almost half his life in. The rain was a soft sprinkle now, just barely altering the landscape through the window.

He could feel Remus worriedly glancing at him every few seconds.

“Kitten?”

“I’m scared, Remus.”

Virgil pulled his legs up onto the seat and laid his head on his knees facing the window, ignoring the dried mud still caked on his shoes and splattered up his legs; he knew Remus didn’t particularly care how dirty his car got. He worried at his lower lip, trying to ignore the spikes of panic shooting through him each time he recognized a sign that meant they were getting closer to the Empire and Deceit.

The diner Janus had shown him and Remus before subsequently banning both of them from returning after they had discovered one of the grossest combinations of hot cocoa, pop, syrup, and condiments possible. 

The museum he and Remus had gone through when he was thirteen and Remus had been obsessed with dinosaurs. He had had nightmares for a week after the Deep Sea exhibit.

The corner store where Virgil had gone on his first mission and failed, unable to make the kill. 

The...wait a minute. Remus should have taken a left turn just then. Maybe they were just going a different way to lose anyone trying to track them.

But then...how far out of the way were they going?

“I need gas,” Remus explained.

Oh.

Remus pulled up to the pump the next street down and got out of the car, shutting it off. 

Despite knowing it was pointless, he tried his powers again. He tried to pull at the cuffs, tried squeezing his wrists out. He considered the door handle...he didn’t know what his plan was, but he could certainly draw attention once he got the door open. 

The only question was, if he did get someone’s attention, what would they do? Remus could easily prove that he worked for the Empire. In some towns, people would fight back, but not here. This city was very pro-Empire; it was where their base was located, after all. Virgil took a deep breath. 

It couldn’t hurt. 

He flung open the door and let out a scream, scrambling as far as he could out of the car. He screamed again. And again, before he was shoved back in the car. There was a weight on top of him and the door closed. Remus was sitting on him, hand over his mouth. 

He licked the hand. 

Remus pulled back instinctively, giving Virgil an odd look.

“That’s my thing, weirdo.”

Remus grabbed at a roll of duct tape and tore off another strip, firmly pressing it to Virgil’s mouth. Virgil reached up to try to tear it off, but Remus growled at him.

“Take it off and I’ll wrap it all the way around your head.”

Virgil put his hands back down.

Remus frowned at the ease in which Virgil agreed, but he turned around to grab his identification to show to those Virgil had attracted. He climbed off of Virgil and exited the car. The second Remus had turned his back and closed the door, Virgil locked it from the inside and tore the tape from his mouth. He dialed Emile with his phone he had just slipped from Remus’s pocket.

“Vee?”

Remy.

“Where are you, Remy?”

Remus had seen what Virgil was trying to do and was now headed for his side of the car.

“Logan took the wheel a while back, and he knows how to go over the speed limit, unlike Emi. We’re, like, a couple minutes from the city.”

Remus was...finishing getting gas?

“We’re blocks away. We’re getting gas. I can’t break the chains or the grip or pick the locks or-”

“Hey! Give me that phone!”

Virgil turned his body towards his door, shielding the phone.

Remus closed his door and turned the keys in the ignition. 

“Remy, we’re driving! What do I do?”

Remus swerved out of the gas station. 

“Please allow Remus to hear me, Virgil,” Logan’s calm voice instructed him.

Virgil paused, before obeying and putting his phone on speaker.

“Okay, Logan.”

“Remus, I ask that you calm yourself. I doubt Deceit would appreciate you killing your charge in a car accident.”

Remus growled at the phone but eased up on the gas pedal slightly.

“Why did you get gas, Remus.”

Remus slammed on the brake at the red light, making Virgil let out an undignified squeak.

“‘Cause the tank was almost empty, old man. Quit psychoanalyzing me.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Turn right.”

Just then, the light turned green and Remus turned right, speeding off in the wrong direction.

“Fuck you, Logi-.”

“Logan, please. Continue.”

“I want to strangle you.” 

“Yes, I imagine you do,” Logan said in a bored tone. “Virgil, how are you doing.”

Virgil barely managed an intelligible “huh?”

“I have learned that you must not panic or react around Remus as it only feeds into his antics.”

“H-how did-“

“A moment. Remus, where exactly are you headed as of now?”

Remus glared at the road. 

“Wherever I want, genius. Figure it out.”

“Are you being sarcastic or do you wish for me to uncover your whereabouts?”

Remus clenched the steering wheel with both hands and turned sharply, driving over a curb and landing on a different road, narrowly missing getting nicked by a semi. 

“Remus!” Virgil shrieked, clinging to the very grip he was chained to and accidentally ending the call; however, he didn’t have the courage to let go long enough to redial just yet.

After a few turns just as unexpected and law-breaking as the first, Remus was barreling down the highway, headed away from the city once again. 

After several miles of tree-lined highway, Remus swerved once again into oncoming traffic, this time to a dirt path across lanes that most passing by would have missed; it was angled the wrong way and looked more like a path than an actual road.

Remus slowed to a stop and hopped out of the car, making his way to Virgil’s side. He opened the door and pulled Virgil’s arms up towards him. He materialized a key and fitted it into the keyholes, ignoring the other car speeding down the dirt road towards them. The other car veered right and parked on the other side of the little clearing. The second the cuffs around his wrists were gone, Virgil melted into the shadows, reappearing near the other car.

Logan emerged from the driver’s seat.

“Hello, Remus.”

Remus gave Logan a little wave as the rest of the passengers stumbled out of the car.

“How many of them were about to puke?” Remus said with a deranged smile.

“You, my, but...car!” Patton managed to spit out before sinking to his hands and knees next to the car.

“It has sustained no damage,” Logan pointed out. “Nor have you.”

“Logan!”

“At least we can cross ‘car chase’ off our bucket list, ‘ey Vee?” Remy said, punching Virgil lightly in the shoulder.”

“That was my fifth one, not counting Remus’s joyrides,” Virgil said with a frown.

“Since when are you the cool brother?”

But Virgil had already gotten up and was stalking towards Remus.

“Hide me?” Remus asked a befuddled Logan.

“Excuse me?”

Virgil tackled Remus to the ground, knocking the wind from him and glaring murderously.

“So, I see you’re angry with me,” Remus said conversationally, getting to his feet and pulling Virgil up.

Virgil just glared harder, yanking his hand from Remus’s.

“Can I ask why?”

“...why?” Virgil spat out.

“Why do you look like you want to hit me?”

Virgil punched Remus in the stomach.

“Well? Can I at least have a reason?”

“You kidnapped me.”

“I also just saved your life.”

Virgil punched him again.

“You could have  _ told _ me!”

“That it?”

Another punch.

“You left me behind.”

“I thought you weren’t angry about that.”

“I’m angry about everything about you!”

“Not specific enough.

“Stop talking!”

That one hit Remus on the jaw.

“...feel better?” Remus asked, hand cradling the side of his face.

“Kinda.”

“Good. That last one hurt!”

Virgil looked slightly sheepish.

“Eh, I probably deserve it. Right, well, I better get outta here. Bye, Kitty.”

Remus turned back to his car, but Logan intercepted him.

“One moment please, Remus. If I may, I would like to inquire as to when and why you decided to change your objective.”

“Why  _ am _ I here, Remus? What happened to going to the Empire?”

Remus groaned.

“I don’t  _ know _ , okay? Just...drop it. I can always change my mind.”

“Yeah, not happening,” Remy interjected, stepping in front of Virgil.

“You’re the brother,” Remus said, unimpressed.

“I am. Do you have a problem with that? ‘Cause  _ I _ have a problem with-”

“ _ Remy _ ,” Virgil hissed.

“Vee, he literally just abducted you!”

Virgil pursed his lips but turned to Logan instead. 

“How did you...that. Just, all of that.” 

Virgil gestured to the cars.

“Quite easily, actually. Your information led me to your general location. Your  reactions were quite telling and kept me informed until I could get Remus’s car in sight. Then, it was just a matter of keeping up. I had at least a general idea of where Remus was headed. Speaking of, Remus, please cease your staring match and answer my questions.”

“Don’t wanna,” Remus said, still glaring at Remy.

“Nor should you have to,” a new voice said, and Virgil spun around to face Deceit.


	20. Chapter 12 (Virgil)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter from Virgil's POV.

Virgil felt a hand grip bruisingly tight around his lower arm, pulling him back several feet.

“Oh, how  _ sweet _ . You must be Jeremy,” Deceit said, tipping his hat. “It’s a  _ pleasure _ to finally meet you.”

“Go to hell, snake,” Remy replied mildly.

Deceit sent Remy a cold smile and an appraising glance before moving on to Logan. 

“You could come back to us, you know. I know you have enjoyed the past hour or so far more than you feel you should have. Things could be like this all the time.”

“You are correct, yes. Perhaps I would even be willing if you were to assure me that no one in this clearing would be harmed or taken anywhere they did not wish to go.”

“No!”

Virgil flinched at Roman’s protest; he had honestly kind of forgotten that he and the others were across the clearing with everything that had just happened.

“Logan! You can’t-”

“Silence, Roman. I may do whatever I wish.”

“You’re being a self-sacrificial idiot,” Virgil piped up, earning a sharp intake of breath from Remy in his ear. “Why?”

“I simply weighed the options and decided this was the most sensible course of action. Well, Deceit?” Logan asked, turning back to the man.

Roman stalked forward but Remus grabbed him from behind, fighting to hold him back.

“No.”

“No?” was the word Logan’s lips formed, but Virgil heard different ones registering in his head.

_ You denied my first request eight months ago. I understand why, but I need you to comply this time. I can move amongst them, find those who are only a part of this due to obligation and those employed through forceful means such as yourself and release them, but to succeed, I cannot be worrying for those I care about. Get yourself and the both of our families away from here. I will be fine. Deceit cannot manipulate me as he can most. I know that you are more than capable, Virgil. _

Virgil met Logan’s eyes and saw the grim determination in them. He gave a nearly imperceptible nod and let himself relax as much as he could in the current situation. He let himself reach out to the shadows, connecting with them and willing them to do what he wanted.

He had never had the chance to properly explore his powers, but he had started with Emile and Remy in the past couple months. He knew that if he concentrated hard enough, he could transport a mug of coffee across a room and sink into the shadows with another person. Combining those two aspects of his powers, he should logically be able to transport a person without them holding on to him.

He just had to ignore the fact that he had never done it before and that it wasn’t across a room he was trying to send someone, but halfway across the state.

Virgil forced his mind clear, instead focusing on Emile sitting in his living room. He clenched his eyes closed, and when they opened, Emile was gone. He did the same with Patton, deciding that it would probably be best if they wound up in the same place. 

Virgil felt a wave of exhaustion hit him but he pushed past it. 

Virgil considered his options; Emile and Patton had made sense to go first, but everyone else was gathered together, making Virgil’s job substantially harder.

He met Logan’s eyes in silent question. The man was currently trying to convince Janus that it was the better deal for him to rejoin than to have to chase Virgil down once again.

Remy edged himself and Virgil a few more feet away from the rest of the group and Virgil got a significant look from Logan, the meaning clear:  _ Remy next _ .

Virgil willed the shadows to twine up his brother’s ankles, pulling him to Emile’s living room as well. He felt almost nauseous as Remy disappeared, unused to exerting his powers this much, but he needed to continue. Someone was going to notice the absence of three whole people soon.

He gathered his strength a final time, debating how best to go about things. It would be easier to transport Roman with him, but Remus was in the way and Virgil didn’t know what would happen if Remus was in contact with him and Roman when he tried to pull Roman to Emile’s.

_ He is not necessarily on our side, but he has proven willing to assist you. Use that to your advantage. _

Virgil frowned in Logan’s direction. 

Sure, Remus hadn’t taken him to the Empire’s headquarters, but Virgil doubted he would help again, especially in the presence of Janus.

“Wait, where-” 

Virgil froze. Remus had noticed. He felt a pair of eyes bore into his back, but he didn’t dare turn around. Janus was the bigger problem at the moment. 

“What, Remus?” the man in question snarled without letting his gaze leave Logan.

“Uh...where are we eating after this? I skipped breakfast.”

Virgil let out a soft breath of relief. Maybe Logan was right; they could find a temporary ally in Remus.

But it didn’t matter, because at that moment Janus decided to send a withering glare at his partner, which quickly morphed into anger.

“What did you do?” Janus hissed, lunging towards Virgil.

Virgil backed away towards Remus and Roman, watching as Logan grabbed at his offender, pulling him back. 

“Let go of him,” Virgil demanded of Remus, using the distraction as a final chance to reason with his old partner.

“No can do, Kitty Cat.”

“Remus, please.”

“I’m already gonna be in plenty of trouble, Kitten. I’ve still got a job to do, and this here’s a vampire.”

“You didn’t tell Deceit everyone else was gone.”

“Fuck you.”

“Remus....”

“Move,” he muttered in a suddenly serious tone just loud enough to be heard by Virgil.

He did, rolling away just in time to avoid Janus’s hands.

Virgil heard a thud and looked back to find Roman lying motionless on the ground. Logan was still upright, but blood dripped from his nose and he looked a bit unsteady.

_ Can you get him out, Virgil?  _

Virgil heard a slight tremor in the voice of the man usually so composed. 

Virgil teleported behind the two now advancing on him. He sunk to his knees from the effort, the world seemingly at a tilt. Virgil grabbed onto Roman’s arm and tried to pull the nearby shadows around him, but they wouldn’t budge. He tried again, this time feeling their cool embrace inch closer. 

Still not close enough.

He could distantly hear shouting behind him, but it was almost inaudible compared to the ringing in his ears. 

Was the air getting thinner? That didn’t make any sense, but it was getting harder to breathe.

_ Virgil, stay grounded. _

Logan.

The voice was like a bucket of ice water, bringing him back and sharpening his focus. The dizzy spell couldn’t have lasted long, but his former partners were almost on him. 

He tried once more to latch onto the shadows, this time succeeding. He felt his vision go dark, but not in a bad or dangerous way; instead, there were bits of locations he knew at the corners of his vision. He latched onto Emile’s living room, bringing the room into focus.

Virgil felt arms wrap around him, pulling him backward. He let go of Roman, willing him to finish the journey, but before the man could disappear, Virgil felt something clamping around his wrists. A different blackness invaded the edges of his vision. He tried to fight the strong arms wrapped around him, but it just made the dark fill his sight further. 

And then there was light, a golden glow above him that settled around him like a weighted blanket, stealing any resolve to fight he had left. Virgil’s struggles stilled as he faded from consciousness.


	21. Chapter 13 (Roman)

"I'm up, I'm up,” Roman whined, pushing away the hand that was shaking him gently; he forced his eyes open.

"Roman," Logan let his eyes flutter closed for a moment with a sigh of relief. "How are you fairing?"

"I'm fine, Lo."

Roman took in the shackles around Logan's wrists and the thick iron bars across their shared cement cell.

"Where..."

"The lowest floor of the Empire, which means we are to be contained yet ignored. Patton, Remy, and Emile are safe."

"Virgil?"

"Deceit has gotten in his head once again. His other partner did not seem very comfortable with that, though. Remus has believed in free will strongly since he was a child due to a very controlling and ill-tempered father."

"Would he help us?"

"I believe he may if it would assist Virgil in any way. However, as I said, we are to be ignored. While I would not say that Remus necessarily adheres to rules, assisting us would probably be taken as a personal attack towards Deceit, an event he would be unwilling to initiate. Something drastic would have to occur for him to even consider coming down here without explicit instruction to do so."

"Right.”

Despite Logan's insistence that it was pointless, the two spent the next hour or so trying to pry open the locks on both Logan's power-suppressing cuffs and the door. 

They were unsuccessful in both ventures; both were created to hold beings much stronger than them.

The vampires would have continued, but a loud crash drew their attention to a part of the hallway they couldn't see. Clinking and clanging drew closer, making Logan and Roman pull back from the bars a bit.

A heavy object came flying at the bars, making the two behind it jump back further.

Roman recognized the object that had been flung at the door as Remus’s morningstar. Its owner came into view, looking murderous. He lashed out at the concrete wall behind him with his fist, pulling back with already-bruising knuckles.

“Remus!”

“Would you rather it be you,  _ Logic _ ?” Remus growled, an almost manic glint in his eye. “Can’t say I’d mind roughing you up a bit.”

“Is that not why you are here?”

“I’m here ‘cause I wanna be.”

Roman thought back to Logan’s previous statement. Remus wouldn’t come down here unless he had been directly told to or something drastic had happened.

“How is Virgil?”

Remus actually growled like some sort of wild animal.

“Why do you care? You met him a couple months ago!” 

Logan considered the question for a moment.

“I suppose I understand his position and-”

“His position?”

Logan’s lips curved up minutely, and Roman knew instantly that he had expected that reaction. 

“Do you know why I left, Remus?”

“You’re a traitor. You’re a fucking traitor and you left us to fend for ourselves because you think you’re better than us.”

“I do not, no, if you would believe it. This organization brings carnage, pain, fear, and anger, but I am no better. I am a coward. I have stood by and done nothing for far too long even though I knew the evils of the Empire. I believe you have begun to see the dangers of continued association with all of this.”

A contemplative silence fell over the three of them.

“Fix him,” Remus demanded suddenly.

Roman saw sudden apprehension fill Remus’s eyes and uncertainty take over his stance.

“You can, right? All that mind stuff is fucking confusing, but you’re good at it. You can fix him.”

“I cannot, Remus.”

“I’ll let you out. You can go. You can...you can take him with you. I’ll even  _ apologize _ . Just-”

“Remus, it is not a matter of not wanting to or asking for something in return. Bribing me does not change the fact that I am physically unable to reverse the damage Deceit has wrought.”

Remus knelt, letting his fist curl around the handle of his morningstar tightly, knuckles almost white.

“Wait!” Roman called out as Remus rose, preparing to swing. “He remembered last time on his own. He could do it again.”

“How? What made him remember?” Remus asked, eyes dropping to his deadly weapon.

Roman chanced a look at Logan who nodded him on. 

Neither of them actually knew for sure.

“He, well...us, I guess. Sort of. We were in a similar situation as when we first met him and it must have triggered something. He...oh! Patton did a counting exercise with him that he had done before too and after that, even though he didn’t seem to remember everything, he knew Patton and remembered him well.”

“Correct,” Logan picked up Roman’s train of thought. “Therefore, if we could put him in a situation he has already been in from a time he doesn’t remember, it may spark his memories resulting in at least a gradual return of them.”

Remus perked up.

“You’d better not be lying, Logic.”

Roman caught Logan’s almost-suppressed wince. And so, apparently, did Remus. 

“Shit, sorry. That’s not a thing anymore. That’s gonna take some getting used to. You really want me to call you Logan?”

“I would appreciate it, yes. However, I understand if you are uncomfortable with that. Your father and Deceit always were quite strict about using titles and I doubt that has changed.”

Remus smiled before raising his morningstar again.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“Uh...breaking you out?”

Logan’s whole demeanor changed from veiled fear to exasperation.

"You can easily materialize a key, Remus."

“I still need to destroy something.”

Logan shook his head but obligingly stepped back, pulling Roman with him. Remus grinned before slamming his mace as hard as he could at the bars. It didn’t even dent the reinforced bars, but Remus didn’t seem deterred. He repeated the action until there was a sizable bend inwards to the one he was working at.

He dropped his weapon in surprise once he registered his progress.

“Damn! It actually worked!” Remus panted, a wide smile on his face.

“Remus…”

“Yeah, yeah.”

He ignored his accomplishment - it wouldn’t have actually helped them anyway, it was just a way to blow off steam - and unlocked the actual door and Logan’s cuffs.

“You coming?”

Remus stood in the corridor, swinging his morningstar happily as he waited for Logan and Roman to make their way out of the cell.

“So, Deceit might still be with Vee in his room, but we probably shouldn’t just hang out here. There aren’t many escape routes this far down.”

“What of the guards?

“Oh, they won’t be a problem,” Remus grinned.

“You are going to give someone brain damage, Remus.”

“I’m careful enough. Usually. I did accidentally give Vee a concussion once, though. Dee was really mad.”

Remus looked offended at the stern look Logan leveled at him.

“It’s not like I go around  _ trying _ to hurt him. It was one time!”

“The  _ concussion _ was one time. I doubt that is the only way you have harmed him, accidentally or purposefully.”

Remus just laughed.

“He knows the risks of hanging out with me. And I always give him some warning when I can. He has a chance to back out. Come on, through here.”

Remus led them into a very familiar stairwell.

“What’s the plan, Lo...gan?” he corrected himself clumsily, adding awkward finger guns for good measure.

“First, we need to locate Virgil and remove him from Deceit’s presence.”


End file.
